Porto gave Simone Inzaghi’s Inter a scare towards the end of the match, but Inter showed admirable resilience and managed to secure their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
After a goalless draw at Estadio do Dragao, Inter have advanced to the quarter-finals of the top club competition in Europe for the first time in 12 years with a 1-0 aggregate victory over Sergio Conceicao’s team.
Despite a late surge by Porto, who hit the crossbar twice in quick succession through Mehdi Taremi and Marko Grujic, as well as Ivan Mercano’s shot being blocked on the line by Denzel Dumfries, the visitors managed to hold on.
With a bit of luck, Inter was able to reach the top 8 teams of the Champions League.
Inzaghi praised his side performance and efforts after the game.
“We played a great game, the group came together and played a great match. [We were] excellent first half. In the last part of the match, we suffered all together – honour to this group.” he said.
“In football, luck counts relatively, [but] in the two legs, we deserved the passage to the quarter-finals. Now, it’s right to enjoy a feat that has been missing for a long time.”
Asked if Inter can reach the final, Inzaghi replied:“You can always dream, we want to do our best. It’s a good opportunity, Inter haven’t reached the quarter-finals for a long time, but we have to play with our heads.
“We knew it would be very tough. I want to congratulate my team-mates because we fought until the end. I hope this qualification will give us the push for the next games.”
