Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi admitted he had only previously dreamt about his team reaching the final four of the Champions League.
The Nerazzurri were drawn into what was considered a group of death earlier in the tournament when they were put in with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, making it through as runners-up ahead of the LaLiga giants.
Inter beat Benfica 5-3 on aggregate following a 3-3 draw at San Siro in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, meaning they will face city rivals Milan in the semis for the first time since the 2002-03 season, while it will also be the first time the two will meet five times in one season.
There is great happiness, Inzaghi said after the game. We played a great game against a difficult team.
We fully deserved this semi-final, which before was only a dream. I m happy for the boys and for our progress. We started with a very difficult group with Barcelona and Bayern Munich. We work every day to experience these evenings.
1 AC Milan and Inter will meet in 5 matches in the same season for the first time in the history. Derby.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo)
Their passage to the semis of the Champions League for the first time since they won the competition in 2009-10 should relieve some pressure on Inzaghi, who has come in for criticism for the team s league form, having not won any of their last five games in Serie A, losing four.
Critics aren t a problem, he insisted. I know where they come from. Some speak well, some speak bad.
Federico Dimarco had a productive game down the Inter left against Benfica, providing six open-play crosses – twice as many as any other player – and claiming assists for Lautaro Martinez and Joaquin Correa after Nicolo Barella had earlier given the hosts the lead.
Roger Schmidt s men equalised Barella s goal through Frederik Aursnes, before late efforts from Antonio Silva and Petar Musa levelled things again.
We re very happy, it s been many years since Inter made it to the semi-finals, Dimarco told Amazon Prime. There s still one step left to get to the end.
We played well, apart from some lack of attention for their goals. The assists? I worked all week for this, the important thing is that the team wins.
When asked about the prospect of facing Milan, he replied: Let s think about the other matches first. I m calm, there s still one step left for us to move forward.
