Inter Milan went into half-time of their Champions League semi-final second leg with Barcelona on the verge of a second final in three seasons after a dominant first-half showing.
The Nerazzurri, beaten finalists in 2023 as they lost 1-0 to Manchester City, have never lost a home game in the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition.
And the first half provided no suggestion that record will change, Inter taking a 2-0 lead into the break, giving Simone Inzaghi’s men a 5-3 aggregate lead.
Lautaro Martinez, a doubt ahead of the game because of a muscle injury that saw him miss Saturday’s Serie A game with Hellas Verona, gave Inter the lead in the 21st minute.
Martinez slotted into an empty net as Inter took advantage of Dani Olmo losing possession in his own half, Federico DiMarco playing in the influential Denzel Dumfries to square for the Argentina forward.
Barcelona responded well without significantly threatening the Inter goal, and the visitors were punished again when Hakan Calhanoglu made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time.
All the angles the Pau Cubarsí tackle to give Inter Milan a crucial penalty 👀#UCLonPrime pic.twitter.com/4Uu19snSal
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) May 6, 2025
Pau Cubarsi initially appeared to have gotten the ball when challenging Martinez to stop an Inter break down the left, but a VAR check revealed he did not do so, leaving referee Szymon Marciniak with little choice but to point to the spot, much to the fury of the Barca players.
Calhanoglu kept his composure to rifle into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards, leaving Barcelona with a mountain to climb.
Hansi Flick’s men recovered from 2-0 down in the first leg to draw 3-3 at home but they ended the first half with history very much against them.
