A second-half goal by Argentina forward, Lautaro Martinez, earned Inter Milan a 1-0 victory over rivals AC Milan in their Champions League semi-final second leg on Tuesday night.

The victory sealed a 3-0 aggregate win to book Inter’s ticket to the showpiece in Istanbul, Turkey.

Milan recovered some of the spark they lacked in the first leg but Inter’s Martinez put the tie to bed when he struck powerfully from close range in the 74th minute at the San Siro.

Inter went into the game holding a 2-0 advantage after Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan had struck early in a flying start to the first leg and never looked in serious danger of missing out on the final, where they will face Real Madrid or Manchester City on June 10.

Inter, who overcame Portuguese pair Porto and Benfica to reach the semis, will play in the final for the sixth time and first since lifting their third European Cup in 2009-10 under Jose Mourinho.

READ ALSO: Champions League: Inter beat AC Milan in semi-final first leg

Speaking after the game, Martinez, who won the World Cup with Argentina in December 2022, said: “There was a lot of history in this game. I felt it, we did a great job in both games.

“The unity of the group (motivated us). I experienced it at the World Cup, that’s important. If you have a united group, things are easier. We have shown that Inter deserve this moment.

“Playing in the Champions League final is a dream. We started this season with goals and today we achieved a very important one.”

It is the first time Inter have progressed from a knockout tie against their city rivals in the competition, with Milan coming out on top both in the 2002-03 semi-finals and the 2004-05 quarters.

It is also the first time in almost 50 years that Milan have lost to Inter four times in a single campaign, the only other time being in 1973-74.

And never before in their history had they gone four games in a row without finding the net against Inter.

Milan, who have won only two in their last seven Serie A games, risk dropping out of Europe’s elite club competition next season as they currently sit four points off the top four.

The Star