Football: Inter Milan frustrate Porto to reach Champions League q-finals
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Inter Milan players celebrate at the end of the match against Porto, where they drew 0-0 to advance on a 1-0 aggregate.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
PORTO – Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi is feeling confident after seeing his team “suffer together”, as they held off Porto in a gritty 0-0 draw on Tuesday to reach the Champions League quarter-finals with a 1-0 aggregate triumph.
The Italian side, three-time winners of this competition, progressed to the last eight for the first time since 2011.
“We played an excellent game, the group stayed compact and played a great match. Excellent first half. In the last part of the match, we all suffered together – honour to this group,” Inzaghi told Mediaset.
“In football, luck matters relatively. In the two-legged match, we deserved to advance. Now we will play the quarter-finals with a lot of confidence.”
Clutching a one-goal advantage from Romelu Lukaku’s late winner in the first leg of their last-16 tie, Inter set up to frustrate at the Estadio do Dragao.
Porto managed to test Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana on only a few occasions and failed to make the quarter-finals for the third time in their last five attempts.
Their finest chances came in stoppage time at the end, when Mehdi Taremi and Marko Grujic both hit the woodwork and Ivan Marcano had an effort cleared off the line.
“There are so many emotions right now, after so many years, we are proud of this achievement,” Inter midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu said.
“We made some mistakes but we did a great job, it was very difficult but I congratulate the team for the great job.”
Inter have faced criticism for their domestic form – they lost two of their last three Serie A games – but Calhanoglu added that this win provided a morale boost.
“Anything can happen in the Champions League – this match restores motivation for you. We did a great job, we didn’t score but we worked hard until the final whistle and we qualified,” he added.
Porto have a strong recent record against Italian sides, knocking out Juventus and AS Roma in recent years, but the Portuguese champions simply could not score against Inter in 180 minutes.
“In the second half we were better, more possession and more opportunities – I still can’t believe the ball didn’t go in,” Grujic said of his stoppage-time miss.
“The fans were supportive and it was good to see that they understood that we gave everything. We really wanted to win the game.
“The Dragao atmosphere was spectacular and now we are very disappointed.”
Porto’s wide man Pepe was sent off for a second yellow card at the death, with Inter surviving the late onslaught.
The Italian side have won only one game on the road in 2023 and Inzaghi is under pressure, but progression to the quarter-finals will buy him more breathing room.
AFP, REUTERS
