MUNICH: Inter Milan snatched a late 2-1 win from Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final after Davide Frattesi scored the winner in the 88th minute, just three minutes after Bayern had equalised through Thomas Mueller.
Frattesi tapped in from close range to stun the Bavarians, who had levelled three minutes earlier through substitute Thomas Mueller, a player leaving the club at the end of the season after 25 years as Bayern did not offer him a new contract.
Inter captain Lautaro Martinez had put the visitors in the driving seat after 38 minutes, drilling the ball into the net from a superb Marcus Thuram backheel after Bayern had earlier hit the post through Harry Kane.
The treble-chasing Italians, who have conceded three goals in their 11 Champions League matches so far this season, host Bayern in the return leg on April 16.
“Scoring in the 88th minute like that shows how much we wanted to keep playing our football and using the principles we’ve been relying on for almost four years now,” said Inter coach Simone Inzaghi.
The winners of the quarter-final will face either Borussia Dortmund or Barcelona, who play their first leg on Wednesday.
The Germans, who were missing several key players to injury including goalkeeper Manuel Neuer and attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala along with a trio of defenders, had two chances through Michael Olise and Kane in the opening 15 minutes.
They came even closer in the 26th after Olise outplayed almost the entire Inter defence to lay the ball off for Kane whose curled shot hit the post.
The Italians gradually grew bolder with Carlos Augusto firing into the side netting and Martinez charging into the box but slipping just before shooting.
The Inter captain, however, made no mistake when Thuram found him with a backheel flick from a Carlos Augusto cut-back and the Argentine completed the swift move with a deft finish.
He came close to adding another in 55th but Bayern keeper Jonas Urbig stopped his powerful drive from a tight angle.
Bayern, who lead the Bundesliga title race and face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday pinned Inter in their own half but neither Konrad Laimer, Raphael Guerreiro nor Kane with a low drive in the 80th could find an equaliser until crowd favourite Mueller was in the right place to score with five minutes left.
Their joy, however, only lasted three minutes with Frattesi tapping in the winner in a heartbreaking finale for the Bayern fans in the Allianz Arena, site of this year’s final.
“It’s halftime, it’s 2-1 for Inter and we need to go to Milan to win,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. “We have lost and we had our chances in both halves but the results are not always fair.”
“If you see how many chances we had against a defensive-minded Inter. Normally if we get these chances we score two or three goals,” added Kompany. “We still fully believe in our chances in Milan.”
