Inter Milan to face rivals in Champions League semi-finals

They reached the semis with a 3-3 draw with Benfica winning on an aggregate of 5-3.

The winners of the semi-finals will face the winner of the other semis, which features another dream match-up with Real Madrid taking on Manchester City.

Inter Milan are looking for their third Champions League trophy and first since 2010. Interestingly, that 2010 title was the last time an Italian club won with Juventus losing in the finals in 2015 and 2017.

Familiar foes

Not only will Inter be facing off with rival AC Milan in the Champions League semis but they also reached the Coppa Italia semis where they will play Juventus. The draw with Benfica in the last match had to give the slumping team some confidence. In their last five Serie A matches, Inter have four losses and one draw.

They have slid all the way to fifth place in the league standings, two points behind AC Milan. However, they have beaten Milan in the two meetings this season, once in league play and once in the Italy Super Cup. Inter Milan kept a clean sheet in each match and they totaled four goals.

Inter and AC Milan have clashed in the Champions League knockout stage twice, in the semi-finals in 2002-2003 and in the quarter-finals in 2004-2005. It has been a while since those fixtures but Inter are looking for some revenge as they lost both of those ties. The first leg of the Champions League semis tie will be on May 10th and the second on May 16th.

Looking to counter after Portugal

After beating Benfica 2-0 in Portugal in the first leg of the last tie, Inter Milan played the counter-attack in the 3-3 draw with them at home in the last match.

Inter lost the time of possession battle 60% to 40% but were only outshot 12-11. Inter never trailed in the match and were up 3-1 in the 78th minute and then gave up two late goals.

The three goals they gave up were the first in the knockout stage with clean sheets in their previous three matches. The three goals Inter scored were the first time they had over two goals in 12 matches.

When asked about the derby match-up in the CL semis Inter striker Lautaro Martinez, who scored his first goal in 10 matches in the win, stated: "It will be a special derby. We all know what this game means, to play a Milan derby in the Champions League semi-finals."

AC Milan beat fellow Italian side Napoli, who are the league leaders in Serie A, 2-1 on aggregate to set up their clash with Inter.

AC Milan are back in the Champions League semis for the first time since 2007 when they won the title.