PORTO, PORTUGAL - MARCH 14: Andre Onana of FC Internazionale in action during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 leg two match between FC Porto and FC Internazionale at Estadio do Dragao on March 14, 2023 in Porto, Portugal. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot - Inter/Inter via Getty Images)

Porto 0 - 0 Inter: the Nerazzurri progress to the Champions League quarter - finals!

Team

— Mar 14th 2023

3 MIN READING

Inzaghi's side show real heart and desire to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory

PORTO 0-0 INTER

PORTO (4-4-2): 99 Diogo Costa; 11 Pepê, 2 Cardoso, 5 Marcano, 12 Zaidu (84' 22 Wendell); 46 Eustaquio (70' 20 André Franco), 8 Uribe, 16 Grujic, 13 Galeno; 30 Evanilson (70' 29 T. Martinez), 9 Taremi. Substitutes: 14 Claudio Ramos, 94 Samuel Portugal, 4 Carmo, 7 Veron, 17 Conceiçao, 19 Namaso, 67 Vasco Sousa, 70 Gonçalo Borges, 87 Bernardo Folha. Coach: Sergio Conceiçao.

INTER (3-5-2): 24 Onana; 36 Darmian (79' 37 Skriniar), 15 Acerbi, 95 Bastoni (73' 6 De Vrij); 2 Dumfries, 23 Barella (79' 77 Brozovic), 20 Calhanoglu, 22 Mkhitaryan, 32 Dimarco (69' 33 D'Ambrosio); 9 Dzeko (69' 90 Lukaku), 10 Lautaro. Substitutes: 1 Handanovic, 21 Cordaz, 5 Gagliardini, 11 Correa, 12 Bellanova, 14 Asllani, 45 Carboni. Coach: Simone Inzaghi.

BOOKED: Darmian, Dzeko, Acerbi.

SENT OFF: Pepê

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL). Assistants: Sokolnicki, Listkiewicz (POL). Fourth official: Raczkowski (POL). VAR: Kwiatkowski (POL). VAR assistant: Frankowski (POL).

This evening, Inter knocked out Porto to qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in twelve years. Determination, focus and heart were on full display on a historic night in Portugal, with the Nerazzurri players giving absolutely everything to progress to the next stage. From this point, anything can happen.

Going into the match, both teams knew what was at stake. Porto looked to play high up the pitch in an attempt to force Inter back and strike an early blow. In the opening stages, Uribe, Eustaquio and Taremi did their best to create dangerous situations, but the Nerazzurri stood firm. Inter’s first attempt at goal came from Dzeko on the counter, but Diogo Costa got down low to make the save (21’). It was tight and cagey, and there weren’t a lot of openings. In the 39th minute, Dimarco threw himself in the way of an attempt from Evanilson – a clear demonstration of the sheer determination within the Nerazzurri ranks. Before the break, Lautaro broke down the left and had a go from a tight angle, but the goalkeeper was in place to save.

The home fans were doing all that they could to drive their team forward, but the first effort of the second half came from Barella, who curled just wide from distance. Porto were struggling to put any meaningful moves together against a rock-solid Nerazzurri wall. Darmian excelled on the 65-minute mark, thwarting Galeno. Grujic and then Calhanoglu tried to break the deadlock, but both were unsuccessful. The Portuguese side threw everything at Inter in the final stages as Dumfries cleared off the line (94’) a minute after Onana had tipped Taremi’s header onto the post. Hearts were in mouths, but Inter saw it out and are now Champions League quarter-finalists.