Seria A giants Inter Milan delivered a dominating 5-0 win against Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk on Monday night to secure themselves a spot in UEFA’s Europa League Finals. Inter will now face Sevilla on August 21st in a match for all the marbles.
The first half started slower than expected, but a sudden burst of energy from Inter’s Nicolo Barella on the right flank resulted in a change on the scoreboard. Barella made a great run and delivered a well-measured cross to the penalty box, making it easy for striker Lautaro Martinez to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.
After getting ahead, Inter didn’t back down and had several good chances to double their lead. Shakhtar, on the other hand, tried to get level but suffered from lack of creativity at the front and went on break still behind.
The Ukrainian champion seemed still in the game early in the second period, trying to make something happen while Inter decided to sit back and hunt counters. This proved to be the right choice for the Italians, as they soon went on an impressive scoring spree.
Danilo D’Ambrosio first made it 2-0 in 64th, only for Martinez to score his second just 10 minutes later. Then, Romelu Lukaku joined in the party and scored a brace in 78th and 83rd to set the final score of 5-0.
“The players knew that I believed in a great end to the season for us,” said Inter’s manager Antonio Conte after the game. “We worked very hard, and we learned from our mistakes during the season. We finished second in Serie A and now we have reached the Europa League final. Let’s enjoy this moment before preparing for the final.”
Against Sevilla, Inter will go for their fourth UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup trophy. Their last win in the competition came during the 1997/98 season.
