Porto, March 15 (BNA): Inter Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in over a decade after surviving a barrage of late pressure at Porto to escape a 0-0 draw that saw them progress to 1.0 on aggregate. .
It was a disappointing night for the fans at the sold-out Dragao Stadium, as the Portuguese champions tried unsuccessfully to wipe out a narrow deficit from the first leg in Italy, Reuters reports.
The disciplined Inter side seemed content to hold on to the top spot and did not face a serious threat until extra time.
Then Ivan Marcano’s goal-line effort was saved by Denzel Dumphries and Mehdi Taremi and Marko Grujic’s headers hit the post and the bar respectively as Porto finally came alive.
Then defender Pepe was sent off for a second yellow card, and Inter Milan joined rivals Milan in the quarter-final draw, the first time they had reached the quarter-finals since 2006.
With Napoli playing Wednesday’s second leg at home against Eintracht Frankfurt with a 2-0 advantage gained in Germany, Italy could also have three teams in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.
Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi told Mediaset: “We played an excellent match, the group was cohesive and we played a great match. An excellent first half. In the last part of the match, we all suffered together – the honor of this group.”
“In football, luck is relatively important. In the two-legged game we deserved to advance. Now we will play the quarter-finals with great confidence.”
After a hard-fought first-leg win against Porto who went to Italy with a superior defensive game plan, Inzaghi’s side took a subtle approach that saw their players keep the lead with a consistent display.
They waited for their hosts to show their hand but Porto never stepped in until it was too late.
Not until late, when coach Sergio Conceicao brought in Tony Martinez and Dani Namasso to make it their top three, Porto did it all for Inter in a move that almost worked in injury time when they were thwarted by the woodwork.