Courtesy: UCL/X
On Tuesday, May 6, Inter Milan stunned Barcelona in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) semi-finals, beating them 4-3 on the night after extra-time and 7-6 on aggregate, to reach the final of the competition. At the San Siro, it was a goalfest, including a second half stoppage time equaliser from Inter Milan, to make it 3-3, but despite Davide Frattesi’s winner in the extra-time, it was his teammate and goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who was declared player of the match for some amazing saves in the second leg.
After the first leg of the UCL semi-finals ended in a 3-3 draw at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, it was all to play for in the second leg at the San Siro in Milan. The first half saw Inter Milan take a giant stride towards the final of the competition after going two goals up with Lautaro Martinez’s strike in the 23rd minute and Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty in the first half stoppage time.
Yann Sommer played a big role in stalling Barcelona's comeback trail
But then, Barcelona made a sensational comeback, starting with Erin Garcia’s goal in the 45th minute, followed by Dani Olmo’s goal in the 60th minute. Raphinha gave the visitors the lead for the first-time in the tie on aggregate in the 87th minute, but just when it all seemed to end for Inter Milan, Francesco Acerbi levelled it up 3-3 on the night, and 6-6 on aggregate, to drag it to extra-time.'
Watch the video of Yann Sommer's stunning saves here:
In the 99th minute of extra-time, Inter Milan took the lead with Davide Frattesi’s goal, but then Yann Sommer, who had already made a couple of excellent saves in normal time, took his game to another level. Lamine Yamal’s attempt at goal in the 114th minute was certain to go into the back of the net until Yann Sommer stretched himself to his limit, flying through the air to tip the curling effort wide, ensuring that Barcelona weren’t able to make a comeback once again.
During the post-match interview, Yann Sommer was quoted as saying, “I'm very happy, it was an incredible match. The team did something tremendous tonight. The last save from Lamine was a very special one. He's a great player who always goes inside and shoots. I'm very happy it didn't go in.”
