Inter Milan's road to the Champions League final

Two years after Wembley, Inter Milan return to a Champions League final. Then, a goal from Rodri Hernandez gave Manchester City their first Champions League trophy. Now, they face the other big Middle Eastern-backed project, a Paris Saint-Germain side also desperate to add the trophy to their cabinet.

Fifteen years on from the Mourinho-led Inter who beat Bayern at the Bernabeu, Inzaghi's squad lands in Munich in search of their fourth title. Their path, including a stop in Bavaria, has been almost flawless.

Throughout the tournament, Inter lost only once. That was against Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen. They fell 1-0 with a goal from Nordi Mukiele in the 90th minute, but until then, they had gone five games unbeaten and unbreached.

They drew 0-0 on opening night against City and secured four consecutive clean-sheet wins: 4-0 against Crvena Zvezda, 1-0 over Young Boys, and 1-0 against Arsenal and RB Leipzig.

After that setback, Inter wrapped up the first round with a 1-0 away win over Sparta Prague and a 3-0 at home against Monaco. This secured them a top-eight finish in fourth place, level on 19 points with Arsenal and Barcelona (third and second, respectively), just two points off leaders Liverpool.

Lautaro Martinez, despite a slow start to the season, was the star, netting five of Inter's ten goals in those opening eight matches. He's now up to nine.

Inter's real test came against Bayern

In the knockout stages, Inzaghi's side cruised past a Feyenoord side missing key man Santiago Gimenez. They won 2-0 in Rotterdam with goals from Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martinez, and finished the job in Milan with a 2-1 win where Thuram scored again and Calhanoglu sealed it from the spot.

Their first real test came in the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich. Even though Vincent Kompany's Bayern weren't as formidable as in years past, Inter had to dig deep. At the Allianz, where they now play the final, Lautaro put the Nerazzurri ahead with a lovely finish past Urbig.

They had to suffer, and in the 85th minute, Thomas Muller levelled it. But Frattesi popped up three minutes later to finish a counterattack and land the first blow of the tie.

In the return leg, Harry Kane made amends for a big miss in Munich by scoring early in the second half, but just like a week before, Inter hit back with two goals. Lautaro levelled in the 58th minute and Pavard completed the comeback in the 61st. Although Dier equalised, Inter held on for a semi-final place.

And then came Inter versus Barcelona, arguably one of the greatest ties in Champions League history. Thirteen goals across two legs of high drama, but different endings. Inzaghi's men shocked Montjuic with a Thuram backheel after 30 seconds, and were 2-0 up by the 20th with a Dumfries scissor-kick, but Lamine Yamal decided it was his night.

The winger, just 17, took the game by storm with a Messi-esque goal that elevated him to legend status. Ferran Torres made it 2-2 during a blistering 14-minute spell, and Dumfries scored again in the second half. Raphinha then made it 3-3 with a screamer that hit the bar and rebounded off Sommer's head into the net.

Remember the Swiss keeper's name, because he would be the undisputed star of the second leg. Sommer made seven saves on the night, fifteen in total across the tie. Even so, Barcelona netted three more in Milan after coming back from another 2-0 deficit, with Lautaro and Calhanoglu scoring before the break.

Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo levelled things up thanks to assists from Gerard Martin and Raphinha. Raphinha then appeared to snatch the win in the 87th minute, but a timid clearance from Barcelona's left-back and poor marking from Araujo let Franco Acerbi ghost in like a striker to hammer home and force extra time in the 93rd.

In extra time, Inter once again relied on Sommer, while an outstanding Lamine Yamal went unrewarded. Just like Neymar in 2021, tormenting Bayern with a Ballon d'Or-worthy performance that produced no goals but stayed in the memory.

In the end, it was Davide Frattesi's extra-time strike that sealed a 4-3 aggregate win and gave Inter the chance to lift another Champions League trophy on Saturday.