Lautaro Martinez praised the ability to suffer after they went to the last four of the Champions League with a 2-2 pier of the second legs, which sealed a 4-3 aggregated victory over Bayern Munich.
Entering a 2-1 lead against the first stage, Inter got the first blow when Harry Kane Bayern walked ahead in the second half, only for Martinez to equalize six minutes later.
Benjamin Pavard then went home to double the total lead from Double Inter to 4-2 before Eric Dier's 76th minute header Teed a nervy ending for Simone Inzaghi's hosts.
Inter held on to set up a last four meeting with Barcelona, and Martinez praised his team's fighting character against another European giant.
“We will remember this game for a long time, Inter will never give up: we have personality, heart and head,” the Argentina striker told Amazon Prime.
“We suffered, but we have again shown that we can do great things.”
The recovered finish of Martinez made him the second Argentinian player who scored in five consecutive Champions League performances and joined Lionel Messi, who succeeded in doing this on three separate occasions.
The eight goals of the Inter Striker This campaign can only be improved by Hernan Crespo (nine in 2002-03) in a single edition of the competition for the Serie A-side.
Martinez will now strive for the net for a sixth consecutive Champions League match when they meet Hansi Flick's Barcelona in the semi-final.
However, the 27-year-old is first focused on domestic action, because Inter seems to stay in the hunt for the Treble, which is currently leading the Serie A classification with three points.
2-Simone Inzaghi is only one of the two managers in the history of Inter who reached the semi-final in at least two different seasons in European Cup/Champions League, after Helenio Herrera (four in a row between 1963-64 and 1966-67). Route. #Interbayern #ucl pic.twitter.com/B7GJTYWGW3
– OPTAPAOLO (@OPTAPAOLO) April 16, 2025
“It will be an important draw against a great opponent, in the Champions League, they have a lot of history,” Martinez added.
“But now we focus on the championship, we have time before we start thinking of them.”
Inter will feel like their chances in the last four, since they have left only 10 minutes and 53 seconds in the Champions League this season, a shorter time than any other side.
That resilient defense was the key to entering the semi-final for the second time in the last three seasons (also 2022-23), after he had only made the last four in two of their first 15 performances.
Midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu, whose corner created Pavard's goal against his former side, never gave Inter's attitude as a key to their success.
“It was a wonderful evening, especially with a lot of suffering, but we were prepared for that because we knew that Bayern would come out,” Calhanoglu told Sky Sport Italia.
“We responded well after we went behind and defended once we went 2-1, but we always believed in ourselves and we are happy.”
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