Inter vs AC Milan player ratings: Lautaro Martinez and Francesco Acerbi star for Nerazzurri
Inter Milan are the first club ready for the 2023 Champions League final after beating city rivals AC Milan 1-0 in the second leg.
The goalkeepers were the stars of the show in the first half, both making good saves, but the breakthrough finally came just 15 minutes from time when Lautaro Martinez hit the near post to seal a 3-0 aggregate win.
Here are the player ratings from the second leg at the San Siro:
Inter Milan
Andre Onana – 7th big save at the beginning of Diaz. No major problems after that and always a safe pair of hands.
Matteo Darmian – 7. Handled all threats on his side of the defensive trio with ease.
Francesco Acerbi – 8. Robust, aggressive and dominant. Beat Giroud in the air every time. However, I was a bit lucky not to be caught intentionally stepping on an opponent’s foot.
Alessandro Bastoni – 7. Pretty solid at the back. It didn’t really require much one-on-one work, but his positional play, strength and passing from deep meant Milan just couldn’t get through easily.
Denzel Dumfries – 7. Another impressive performance as he gained ground, pulled the game up and eliminated Leao when needed.
Nicolo Barella – 7. The usual mix of aggression, channel incursions and good work supporting the attack. A little hotheaded, took a booking and caused some commotion.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6. Carried the ball well a couple of times and got into a couple of dangerous positions but had to come off injured before half-time.
Hakan Calhanoglu – 6. Decent possession, sensible with his forward runs. Mostly he played a defensive game in the center and let Barella break past him.
Federico Dimarco – 6. Not his best play with the ball but he had many moments where he was a good valve for the team, pushing forward at high speed.
Lautaro Martinez – 8. Full run and clever touches in deep areas. He came close in the first half and then broke through with a practiced low shot that beat Maignan at the near post.
Edin Dzeko – 6. Hardworking and had a couple of sighters but this time it was more about his hold up game than his boxing skills.
subs: M Brozovic 6, R Lukaku 8, R Gosens 6, J Correa n/a, R Gagliardini n/a
(Getty Images)
AC Milan
Mike Maignan – 7. Two excellent saves in the first half underscored his ability to stop shots and good positional work. Hit the post to score the goal but from close range it was a rocket.
Davide Calabria – 5. Started the game well but never really had much impact going forward.
Malick Thiaw – 6. He performed better than Simon Kjaer in the first leg with more power and speed in the channel but had to be substituted after a yellow card.
Fikayo Tomori – 7. Again better than the first game, but the damage was already done. He had quite a good performance, but still couldn’t help but keep a clean sheet.
Theo Hernandez – 6. One of Milan’s biggest underperformers on both feet considering what he’s capable of. Had an early shot and was good at hitting back many times but ultimately didn’t get any further forward.
Sandro Tonali – 7. A brilliant run down the left touchline provided Milan’s best early opener. Was the one who really tried to push the team forward for most of the game, but too few equaled his endeavour.
Rade Krunic – 6. Busier than last week but no better in forward play. Left huge gaps that Barella just rampaged through.
Junior Messiah – 5. Like the rest of the attack, the Brazilian had a few good individual moments but not nearly enough positive team play or combinations.
Brahim Diaz – 5. Huge chance in the first few minutes, on goal but saved. Except for the first 15 minutes, he remained largely anonymous.
Rafael Leao – 5. In and out of play in the first half but had a great shot over the goal. Completely marginalized and faded in the second half.
Olivier Giroud – 5. No serve, no real passing game, no chance to beat Acerbi and no scoring threat.
subs: P Kalulu 5, A Saelemaekers 5, D Origi 5
