Anyone who doubted Inter were serious contenders to win this season’s Champions League will think again now.
Simone Inzaghi’s away side might have been deflated by Thomas Muller’s equaliser five minutes from the end of this quarter-final’s first leg, the kind of goal that seemed scripted for the veteran following confirmation that he has begun his farewell tour at Bayern Munich. But this Inter team kept their concentration and, within moments, substitute Davide Frattesi reclaimed a lead to take back to San Siro for the decider next week.
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They will take some stopping.
Inter leave behind them a creeping sense of anticlimax for Bayern, who had not been beaten at home in the Champions League for four years. Vincent Kompany’s injury-depleted team had started with urgency, forcing Yann Sommer to save from Michael Olise, Raphael Guerreiro and Harry Kane. England striker Kane, set up by Olise, also clipped the outside of the post just before the half-hour mark with the hosts sensing a reward.
Yet Inter, happy to soak up pressure, always posed a potent threat on the counter. Carlos Augusto had already sprung upfield to batter a shot into the side-netting when, eight minutes from the break, Lautaro Martinez capped a gloriously slick move with a stunning finish into the top corner with the outside of his right foot. It was the Italian team’s first shot on target.
Conceding damaged Bayern, whose frustration mounted as Leon Goretzka headed a presentable second-half chance over the bar. Yet there was to be a sting in the tail, supplied by a local hero as 35-year-old Muller — who has been with the club since age 10 and made his debut in 2008 but is leaving at the end of the season — drew the hosts level, only for their celebrations to be choked at the last by Frattesi.
Stuart James, Sebastian Stafford-Bloor and Liam Tharme dissect the main talking points at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
Muller has his moment, but was Musiala missed?
“Thomas Muller is the definition of a Bavarian fairytale career; he grew up in Bavaria and with Bayern,” Herbert Hainer, Bayern’s president, said in the wake of the weekend’s news that Muller would be leaving the club at the end of the season against his better wishes.
Kompany clearly doesn’t do fairytales.
Jamal Musiala’s hamstring injury opened the door for Muller to start against Inter tonight but Kompany had other ideas. Instead, it was Raphael Guerreiro, a left-back by trade, who was thrust into the No 10 position to replace Musiala. Good luck with that.
Guerreiro stepped into the void left by Musiala (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Bayern at full tilt would have had their work cut out against an excellent Inter side. But missing Manuel Neuer, Alphonso Davies, Hiroki Ito, Dayot Upamecano, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Kingsley Coman as well as Musiala made this feel like a thankless task. Bayern looked what they were — a patched-up team.
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Cue the arrival of Muller from the bench with 16 minutes remaining to try to save the day. The script was written and the evergreen forward followed it to the letter, finding a pocket of space in the penalty area to equalise in trademark style.
But then along came Frattesi to spoil the party.
Stuart James
How did Inter slice Bayern apart for the opener?
The tie’s opening goal was a masterpiece from Inter’s point of view.
Yann Sommer had the ball at his feet for 13 seconds, with the Inter goalkeeper waiting and waiting for a Bayern player to jump forward. Joshua Kimmich eventually took the bait and that was the cue for Sommer to go long to Marcus Thuram, over the Bayern press. The home side’s Kim Min-jae won the header on the halfway line but not cleanly, enabling Thuram and Martinez to combine for the first time in this passage of play.
Martinez released Alessandro Bastoni on the left and the centre-back stepped inside Olise’s weak challenge before feeding Carlos Augusto, who guided an excellent low centre in behind the two Bayern centre-backs. Thuram was slightly ahead of them both but not offside, timing his run perfectly.
What followed was sensational.
As Carlos Augusto’s cross skidded toward him, Thuram took a little jump, put his right foot behind his left, and cushioned the ball so beautifully that it stopped dead for Martinez. The Argentinian strode forward and, using the outside of his right foot, expertly curled the ball into the top corner.
It was goal No 36 for Inter’s strike partnership this season (Martinez has 19 of them) and there will be few better.
INTER ARE AHEAD, AND WHAT A GOAL 🤧
Beautiful build up play finds Thuram who brilliantly back-heels into the path of Lautaro Martinez, and his outside of the foot finish finds the back of the net ⚽️
📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/ZU0IuJwdQ0
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 8, 2025
Video for readers in the United States:
Lautaro Martínez with the most outrageous finish 🤯 pic.twitter.com/9mnPvcDWdi
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 8, 2025
Stuart James
What makes Inter so good?
As the only Italian team to make the 2024-25 Champions League’s last eight, it is fitting that Inter, when needed, embody the ‘catenaccio’ principles for which the country is famous.
Simone Inzaghi’s men are an everything team — they play with a plurality of styles — and no approach is beneath them.
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That they mixed high pressing with a 5-3-2 low block was typical of their approach in Europe and to knockout competition more broadly. Even when deeper as a unit, the centre-backs would be aggressive, particularly with left centre-back Bastoni tracking Bayern No 9 Kane when he dropped off into midfield positions.
Inter combine to thwart Kane (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
They made emergency defending look simple.
On the hour, central midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan made sure to track the back-post run from Konrad Laimer when Bayern crossed from the left, but ’keeper Sommer claimed it anyway. Right wing-back Matteo Darmian made an important block from Leroy Sane to stop a three-vs-three counter-attack turning into a goal. There was a moment at the end of the first half when middle centre-back Francesco Acerbi ended up in the Bayern penalty area in open play, on an overlap, after Inter made a high turnover.
Muller’s equaliser was only the third goal Inter have conceded in Europe in 11 matches this season — they are only one clean sheet away from beating the eight they managed in the 2022-23 Champions League, when they lost to Manchester City in the final.
Liam Tharme
Is Sane worthy of a new contract?
One of the big decisions Bayern face this summer is whether to renew Sane’s deal, which will expire at the end of the season.
Sane turned 29 in January and earns a hefty wage, which — if he is to receive an extension — would eat into whatever funds exist to develop this team.
The Germany winger played well against Augsburg at the weekend and scoring twice against St Pauli the week before. But these are the nights when he has to earn that new deal and, while he had plenty of the ball and the opportunity to attack from good positions, everything Sane did against Inter was slightly too slow — a pass held for a fraction too long, a decision deferred by a few too many seconds.
Sane endured an exasperating evening (Alexandra Beier/AFP via Getty Images)
As well as Inter defended, they still offered chances and Sane was one of the players who should have capitalised.
A Bayern break early in the second half was a good example. Olise drove them up the field, into a three-on-three, before an exchange of passes with Kane freed Sane — but he dallied, Inter recovered, and the chance was gone.
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His talent is not in question but the second leg next Wednesday will be a crucial night for Sane.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
Does Olise offer Bayern hope?
Olise did as good a job as anybody, offering hope for the second leg.
The France international has put together a marvellous first season in Germany after moving from Crystal Palace and, for much of Tuesday’s first half, this looked like another night that would grow his reputation.
He performed in different roles against Inter, drifting from the right side all the way across the corridor in front of the box, and even out to the left wing. It was from the right that he did the most damage, though, sitting in the gap between Bastoni, the left centre-back, and Carlos Augusto, the wing-back outside him.
Olise was the only Bayern player who consistently found space. He whipped a shot across Sommer’s far post inside the first 10 minutes, before bewitching the Inter defenders with a slaloming run and a lay-off for Kane, who could only sidefoot against the outside of the post.
Olise is challenged by Alessandro Bastoni (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
In the second half, Olise led a counter that might have led to an opportunity for Sane had the winger not dallied with the ball at his feet, and — late on — drove towards the box, playing a square pass that Kane slashed wide.
Had any of those chances been taken, Olise would have had his moment — and would have deserved it.
He had 41 touches in the first half alone, more than any Bayern player other than Kim, illustrating his level of involvement and how Kompany leaned on him to disrupt a tough, organised opponent.
Sebastian Stafford-Bloor
But are Inter now Champions League… favourites?
There never was a hangover from Inter losing that Champions League final to Manchester City two years ago. That they went out in the round of 16 last season owed to a good-but-not-great first leg when they only beat Atletico Madrid by a single goal at San Siro — the lead was not enough.
Their resistance to a second-half Bayern onslaught tonight took the form of blocks (five), clearances (22) and duels won (15 of 25). Before he equalised on 84 minutes, Muller had a big chance from a cutback blocked when multiple Inter players threw themselves in the way.
Where other teams would crumble after conceding a late equaliser on the road, Inter showed a strong jaw to absorb that hard hit, and counter-punch.
Their winning goal was just as stylish as the opener, worked from back to front. Sommer played through the press and Hakan Calhanoglu produced a smart one-two with Martinez before releasing substitute Carlos Augusto — his cutback gave Davide Frattesi, also off the bench, a tap-in.
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It made Inter the first team to win away against Bayern in the Champions League since Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-2 victory in the first leg of a 2020-21 quarter-final. See it as the latest example of Inter confirming themselves as kings of the cups under Inzaghi, and having maintained the strong defensive foundations with which they have found so much knockout success.
Opta had Inter as fourth-favourites for the trophy before tonight’s kick-off (behind Barcelona, PSG and Arsenal), but opponents should underestimate them at their peril.
Liam Tharme
What did Kompany say?
On Bayern’s performance, Kompany told Amazon Prime: “We had the chances to score more than once tonight, two or three, or even more. They have quality up front, it’s never unthreatening, but we were more dangerous and we had chances. Inter away from home is tough, but I don’t think we need to come out defeated because of injuries or things like that. We’ll have our chances in Milan, too. We still fully believe in our chances.”
What did Inzaghi say?
On his team’s display, Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia: “More than the result, I’d focus on the way we played. Bayern are a very strong side but we went toe-to-toe with them in terms of determination, courage and aggression. Bayern did try to press us, but we played quality football. The two goals started with our goalkeeper having the ball in his hands. He could’ve hesitated, but instead, he went to start those moves from the back.
“We knew we had to take the initiative off Bayern, which means keeping the ball — not giving it away — and making it tough for them. Bayern pushed hard in the second half, but our team remained focused and sharp. Scoring in the 88th minute shows how much we wanted to keep playing our football using the principles we’ve been relying on for almost four years.”
These teams are attempting to return to Allianz Arena for the final in May (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
What next for Bayern?
Saturday, April 12: Borussia Dortmund (home), Bundesliga, 5.30pm UK, 12.30pm ET
What next for Inter?
Saturday, April 12: Cagliari (home), Serie A, 5pm UK, 12noon ET
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(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
