Inter Milan moved one step closer to securing their place in the Champions League semi-finals following their commanding 2-0 victory over Benfica at the Estadio da Luz on Tuesday evening.
The Italians, who have won the competition three times, won the first leg of the quarterfinal at the Estadio da Luz, giving them a commanding lead. This was Benfica’s first loss in the competition.
After a close first half, Barella scored from a cross by Alessandro Bastoni, and Romelu Lukaku scored from the penalty spot late in the game.
Benfica, led by Roger Schmidt, was trying to get to the semi-finals for the first time since 1990, but they couldn’t touch the visitors.
Even though Inter wasn’t playing well, they showed patience and professionalism when they needed it most.
They had scored two goals in each of their last five games, in all competitions, and they did the same in Lisbon by finishing well.
In the first few minutes, neither team had many clear chances.
Andre Onana blocked a shot by Rafa Silva after Federico Dimarco accidentally sent the ball into his path in the box. That was the closest Benfica got.
At the other end, Francesco Acerbi, who plays defence for Inter Milan, missed a shot from 30 yards out.
After 30 minutes, the Italians had a chance to hit the home team on the break, but Lautaro Martinez made a bad pass that was blocked, leaving 37-year-old Edin Dzeko all alone in the box.
Alex Grimaldo’s long-range shot went wide, and Benfica was frustrated because they couldn’t get striker Goncalo Ramos involved.
Inter Milan broke the tie early in the second half when Barella headed Bastoni’s looping cross back across goal and into the bottom corner.
Schmidt replaced Florentino with David Neres to try to tie the game, but Inter scored again with eight minutes left to play.
One of Benfica’s best players this season, Joao Mario, handled a cross from Denzel Dumfries, giving his old team a penalty.
Odysseas Vlachodimos, the Greek custodian, couldn’t reach it, so Lukaku drilled it past him. This was a response to criticism of his recent play.
Coach Simone Inzaghi chose Dzeko over Lukaku because the Belgian had missed some great opportunities in recent weeks, but he didn’t miss when it mattered.
Benfica had a chance to get a goal back late in the game, but Ramos was about to score when Onana made a great save.
With this win, Inter has a good chance of meeting either Serie A leader Napoli or city rivals AC Milan in the semi-finals.
In the second leg, Inter plays Benfica on April 19 at the San Siro.
Photo by EPA/JOSE SENA GOULAO
