Lukaku shines as Inter Milan put one foot in Champions League semi-finals

Inter Milan defeated Benfica 2-0 on Tuesday, turning up a powerful performance that gave them a huge chance to go to the Champions League semifinals. Inflicting Benfica’s first loss in the competition, the Italians, who have taken the trophy three times, took control of the quarterfinal first leg at the  Estadio da Luz.

After a closely contested first half, Nicolo Barella scored the game’s opening goal by heading in a cross from Alessandro Bastoni early in the second. Romelu Lukaku, a substitute, scored the game’s winning penalty in the closing seconds, giving Benfica a steep uphill battle in the return match.

Inter Milan delivered a professional and patient performance when it meant the most, demonstrating their clinical finishing, despite recently being out of form. In their previous five games in all competitions prior to this game, they had only managed to score two goals. But, they executed a perfect and merciless finale in Lisbon to match that total.

Benfica struggled to contain Inter Milan’s aggressive pressing style and failed to produce any clear chances throughout the entire game. They were stopped by Inter Milan’s organised defence even when they attempted to include attacker Goncalo Ramos.

Inter Milan has a good chance of setting up an all-Italian semifinal matchup against either Napoli or local rivals AC Milan thanks to the win. Benfica will be eager to make up for their errors in the return leg, but they will need to perform far better than they did in the first to stand a hope of overcoming the gap.

The second leg of the Champions League match between Inter Milan and Benfica will take place on Wednesday, April 19, at the San Siro. Based on their strong performance in Lisbon, Inter Milan will be heavy favourites to go to the semifinals.