Inter Milan's Argentine forward #10 Lautaro Martinez celebrates scoring his team's first goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg football match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the San Siro stadium in Milan on April 16, 2025. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)
Milan, Italy: Inter Milan's treble dream treble is alive and kicking after reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday thanks to 2-2 draw with Bayern Munich which won the Serie A giants a pulsating last-eight tie 4-3 on aggregate.
Italian champions Inter will face Barcelona in the semis after goals in the space of three minutes from captain Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard cancelled out a Harry Kane strike for Bayern which levelled the tie in the 52nd minute.
Eric Dier's looping header in the 75th minute earned Bayern a draw on the night in soaking and blustery Milan but that wasn't enough for Vincent Kompany's side to continue their bid to be crowned Kings of Europe for a seventh time.
Bayern Munich's South Korean defender #03 Kim Min-Jae (L) and Bayern Munich's English forward #09 Harry Kane react at the end of the UEFA Champions League quarter final second leg football match between Inter Milan and Bayern Munich at the San Siro stadium in Milan on April 16, 2025. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)
Simone Inzaghi's side came through in awful conditions at the San Siro where a combination of heavy rain and driving winds affected both teams' ability to play their best football, but added uncertainty and tension to an already highly-charged occasion.
"We've had a packed schedule with loads of matches one after the other, but we don't give up, we have personality and heart and intelligence. We were definitely on the back foot at times today but we showed again today that we can do great things," said Martinez to Amazon Prime.
"We think about winning everything at the start of every season, because if we don't then we shouldn't play this sport. That's our mentality."
Inter are still on for a repeat of the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble won under Jose Mourinho in 2010, as they are also three points ahead of Napoli in Italy's top flight and face AC Milan in the semi-finals of the domestic cup.
Wednesday's win showed that Inter are more than capable or reaching the final of Europe's elite club competition, as they did two years ago when they were narrowly beaten by Manchester City.
Bayern had won all three of their previous Champions League away matches at Inter, but after Pavard crashed home his first goal for the club in the 61st minute there was no way back for the injury-hit Bundesliga leaders.
Inter will also benefit from playing the second leg of their showdown with Barca, who they beat in the semi-finals on their way to victory in Madrid 15 years ago, at the San Siro.
