Lautaro Martínez finishes off Milan to put Inter in Champions League final

For Internazionale, the road to Istanbul was paved with bad intentions. The exuberance and colour of their first-leg victory gave way to something darker and grittier here: not so much a semi-final as a turf war, the sort of game that is to be endured rather than enjoyed. Here their great city rivals were snuffed out, dismantled piece by piece, and finally picked off via a goal by Lautaro Martínez. Milan is theirs. But the greatest prize of all remains tantalisingly within reach.

Simone Inzaghi’s side will probably go into the final on June 3 as one of the least fancied Champions League contenders in recent history. And from the English perspective there is perhaps a tendency to gaze upon their wrought and wizened collection of Premier League jetsam and wonder just how they got this far. But there is also real conviction and real quality here: men of skill and steel, who over 180 minutes simply stood taller, made the braver decisions, produced the decisive moments when they were required. Milan, by contrast, were a crashing disappointment: a team with 57% possession but not the slightest idea of what to do with it, a team of too many makeweights and too few leaders.

The return of Rafael Leão offered Milan not merely a skittish, instinctive outlet on the left wing but the hope that things might just be different this time. Certainly Inter seemed particularly wary of the threat posed by Leão and Theo Hernández on that flank, with Denzel Dumfries a little more selective in his forward bursts and Matteo Darmian at centre-back also quick to squeeze the space. Not until the 38th minute that Leão had his first real sight of goal, putting Darmian on his backside and singeing a shot past Andre Onana’s far post.

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