Inter secured their place in the Champions League final with a 1-0 win over AC Milan (EPA)
Inter vice-president Javier Zanetti admits he would rather his side play Manchester City in the Champions League final than Real Madrid.
Inter secured their place in the final with a 1-0 victory over AC Milan at San Siro on Tuesday evening, completing a 3-0 win on aggregate.
The Serie A club must now wait to see who they will play at Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium on June 10 as City host Madrid in their semi final second leg on Wednesday evening.
The return fixture at the Etihad Stadium is finely poised following a 1-1 draw in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu last week, but Zanetti says he is keen for City to progress because of Madrid’s history in the competition.
‘Great emotion. This group deserved this emotion,’ Zanetti said after Inter’s 1-0 win over AC Milan.
Lautaro Martinez’s goal sealed Inter’s 1-0 win over AC Milan at San Siro on Tuesday (AP)
‘Now we wait for tomorrow to discover the opponent but it’s already a lot to have arrived at this moment.
‘I would like to avoid Real Madrid because this competition seems made for Real Madrid.
‘But now it counts just being there. A derby in the semi final is very tough, I experienced it as a defeated player.’
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Meanwhile, when asked who he would rather face, Inter striker Romelu Lukaku said: ‘It doesn’t matter.
‘In this stage in your career when you play finals you know you’re going to play the biggest teams.
‘Man City are playing absolutely brilliant football. Pep Guardiola has a tactical plan for every game. Very different to the other teams in the Premier League because for every game there is a pattern of play, so sometimes they might aim for the second post, sometimes they aim for the near post, teams in the Premier League have difficulty adapting to that.
‘Real Madrid they have two wingers who are absolute quality right now – Vinicius [Junior] and Rodrygo. They are becoming world-class players, [Federico] Valverde is coming through in midfield.
‘I just want to see a good game to be honest, and then at the end of the day, may the best team win.’
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Inter will play either Real Madrid or Man City in the Champions League final.
