There was to be no miracle comeback from AC Milan as they lost 1-0 on the night against Inter and 3-0 on aggregate, crashing out in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s goals in the first leg meant that it was a tall order if Milan were to reach the final in Istanbul next month, and although they had a couple of chances in the first half that moment never came to change the tie.
It was Inter who got the only goal of the night at the other end with substitute Romelu Lukaku setting up Lautaro Martinez to fire in at the near post and essentially kill the game off after what was a dismal second half from the Rossoneri.
The Champions League run therefore ends at the final four stage, with the Nerazzurri undoubtedly the better team over the two legs and some serious questions to be asked now about the future if the club at all levels.
Stefano Pioli chose to make three changes from the team that lost the first leg with one of them forced as Ismael Bennacer dropped out, with Rafael Leao coming back into the attack. Elsewhere Malick Thiaw came in for Simon Kjaer and Junior Messias got the nod over Alexis Saelemaekers.
If there were any doubts about the ferocity with which the game would be played, those were very quickly dispelled when Dumfries sent Theo Hernandez tumbling and then Barella barged through the back of Sandro Tonali while attacking a cross.
Milan were not far away from getting themselves right back in the tie when Theo Hernandez picked up a short free-kick about 35 yards out from goal, letting fly with a speculative effort that only just fizzed over the bar with Andre Onana rooted.
It became apparently from the early exchanges that Inter would once again wait for Milan to surrender the ball and try to play through them quickly, with Barella firing a shot over on the turn from just outside the box when Fikayo Tomori allowed him the space to shoot.
The Rossoneri caused panic minutes later when a curled cross from Messias all the way to the far post was not claimed by Onana nor cleared by Dumfries, with Giroud heading back across goal but Darmian clearing before a tap-in could arrive.
Brahim Diaz had a massive opportunity to halve the deficit in the tie after Barella was robbed of possession by Theo and Tonali went surging into the box, cutting back to the Spaniard who side-footed into Onana’s arms when he could have taken a touch or gone to the other corner.
Barella was heavily involved early in the game and he saw a shot from deep inside the box brilliantly saved by Maignan, though the offside flag did go up for an earlier offside on Dzeko.
Midway through the first half Mkhitaryan had a couple of bites at the cherry to try and make it 3-0 on aggregate and end the tie, the better chance being a shot after a lay-off from Dzeko that was curled over from 18 yards out.
Milan had a huge opportunity to take the lead eight minutes before the break as Leao managed to surge in behind for the first time. The Portuguese winger beat Bastoni to an aerial ball and cut into the box but angled his low shot just wide of the far post.
Then it was Inter’s turn to threaten and call Mike Maignan into action when a low free-kick from Calhanoglu on the left was flicked goalwards by Dzeko and was thankfully straight at the French goalkeeper who seemed to stop it with his face.
There was a nervous moment for Acerbi in the first few minutes of the second half when Tonali went down near him while lining up for a free-kick and the replays showed a deliberate stamp. However, the foul was given but no card.
In the 60th minute there was a moment of worry for Milan when Thiaw pulled up after passing a ball back to Maignan and though he tried to play on, Pierre Kalulu came on to replace him a couple of minutes later.
The feeling was that the game and the tie were starting to drift away from Milan as the minutes ticked by, and when Leao wasn’t far off laying the ball into the path of Messias in behind but Onana claimed it, that feeling grew stronger.
Minutes later, the tie was killed off and it was the combination between Lukaku and Lautaro that provided the opening goal on the night. The Belgian held the ball up well and laid it into the path of his strike partner, who hammered it in past Maignan at the near post after some shocking defending.
A couple of changes followed as Divock Origi and Alexis Saelemaekers came on for Brahim and Messias, but at this point the outcome was a mere formality.
