Result: Inter Milan 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Date: 10 August 2020
Venue: Merkur Spiel-Arena
Inter Milan booked a spot in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals after defeating Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at the Merkur Spiel-Arena on Monday night.
The Serie A runners-up were unchanged from the second-leg win over Getafe last week, while Exequiel Palacios replaced the suspended Charles Aranuiz for Leverkusen.
Antonio Conte's men got off to a fine start as they broke the deadlock on 15 minutes through Nicolo Barella's neat finish after Romelu Lukaku saw his initial effort saved.
Lukaku got his name on the score-sheet six minutes later though, with the Belgian collecting a cross from Ashley Young before cleverly slotting past the on-rushing Lukas Hradecky.
Leverkusen reduced the deficit in the 24th minute when reported Chelsea target Kai Havertz fired straight through the legs of Samir Handanovic after being set up by Kevin Volland.
Despite the lively opening, chances were few and far between in the latter stages of the first half as Conte's men held a slight advantage heading into the break.
Both sides came out firing in the second half as Roberto Gagliardini had his close-range effort blocked while Handanovic did well to tip Kerem Demirbay's effort over the crossbar inside the opening 15 minutes.
The Bundesliga outfit threw on Karim Bellarabi and Lucas Alario in the latter stages of the contest to secure themselves an equaliser.
Despite the German's late push, Inter managed to hold on to their advantage while they also had a second penalty overturned late on as Conte's charges secured a spot in the final four.
