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MILAN. — Simone Inzaghi can already see his Inter Milan team in next month’s Champions League final after an impressive 2-0 win over local rivals AC Milan in the last four on Wednesday.
Inter need to avoid a collapse in the second leg of their all-Italian tie in order to reach a clash with either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Istanbul.
And Inzaghi was in a confident mood after watching his team dominate the first leg, missing several chances to make the scoreline humiliating for their cross-town rivals. “We played a brilliant first half, but it’s a tight scoreline for what we did out there,” Inzaghi told reporters.
“Then in the second half we managed the game well. Apart from (Sandro) Tonali’s shot (which hit the post) the boys did great in covering the whole pitch.
“It’s a hugely positive night which gives us a lot of satisfaction but we’re missing one more piece to attain a dream that we believed in since August. “There are still seven days left. We know we’ve got one more small step to go.” Milan could have star man Rafael Leao back for Tuesday’s second leg after the Portugal winger missed Wednesday’s match with a thigh injury.
Leao is crucial to Milan’s attack and his absence made Inter’s job that much easier, but Inzaghi isn’t worried about the 23-year-old’s potential return next week.
“We have played loads of derbies with Leao playing and without him playing,” said Inzaghi. “He’s a great player who is very important for them but it won’t change our plan for the match.”
Inter have the upper hand ahead of Tuesday’s second leg of the biggest Milan derby of a generation thanks to early strikes from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Inter could have won by a wider margin as Hakan Calhanoglu smashed a shot off the post and Dzeko wasted a great chance early in the second half, but they are still heavy favourites to reach the final of Europe’s top club competition for the first time since they last won it 13 years ago.
“The whole team was really motivated, it’s not every day you play a derby in the Champions League semifinal,” Dzeko told Prime Video after his third goal since January.
“Sometimes I don’t score goals and that’s all anyone talks about, but I also give something else. Today I worked for the team and that was what was needed in such a big match.”
Reaching the final would be extra sweet for Inter as it would avenge semi- and quarterfinal eliminations at the hands of Milan in 2003 and 2005.
The winners of the tie will face holders Real Madrid or Manchester City in the June 10 showpiece in Istanbul. The first leg of that semifinal finished 1-1 in Spain on Tuesday.
Milan, who also struck the woodwork through Sandro Tonali, have their work cut out if they want to have a chance at being crowned European champions for the eighth time and will hope Rafael Leao is available for next week’s decisive clash. — AFP.
Online Reporter