Inter edge Bayern to seal Champions League SF spot

Milan, April 17 (IANS) Goals from Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard helped Inter reach the Champions League semifinal for the second time in three seasons with 5-4 aggregate win over Bayern Munich.

Both teams were heavily involved in the opening exchanges. Thomas Muller forced the first save six minutes in with a skidding drive following a neat turn on the edge of the area after collecting Michael Olise's pass, while Dimarco was unable to add the finish to a sweeping move from the hosts, drilling his low effort straight at Jonas Urbig.

The 35-year-old Müller was in the thick of the action again as Bayern aimed to breach a Nerazzurri defence that had conceded just once on home soil in this season's competition, the visitors stepping up the pressure following a Hakan Çalhanoğlu curler that flew narrowly wide, UEFA reports.

A Joshua Kimmich volley and an acrobatic Leroy Sané strike were both claimed by Yann Sommer late in the first half, the Swiss international aiming for an eighth clean sheet in the Champions League this term.

Harry Kane had other ideas soon after the interval, and pulled his side level in the tie when steering a precise finish into the far corner from the right of the area when it appeared the hosts' back line had all angles covered.

However, the Serie A leaders hit back with two goals in the space of four minutes either side of the hour, captain Lautaro Martínez instigating the fightback with a powerful, opportunistic finish after the visitors were unable to clear following a corner.

With Simone Inzaghi's men in the ascendancy, the 2009-10 winners made the most of another set piece when former Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard timed his leap perfectly to meet Calhanoglu's outswinging delivery from the right and plant a fierce header high into the net.

The Bundesliga leaders surged forward in the final 15 minutes and set up a nervy finish from a well-worked dead-ball routine themselves, Eric Dier somehow finding the net with a looping header from a tight angle after a pinpoint delivery from substitute Serge Gnabry.

Bayern pushed for the goal that would have forced extra time and almost capitalised on some hesitation in the home defence with added time approaching, but Kane could only hook a half-volley over.

Muller and Kingsley Coman both came close to levelling on aggregate as time ticked down, but Inter held out to seal a semi-final place and set up a repeat of the 2009/10 semifinal against Barcelona, dashing the Munich outfit's hopes of reaching the final on home soil in the process.

--IANS

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