Inter Milan midfielder Davide Frattesi celebrated his winning goal in the Champions League semi-final at the San Siro so wildly that he felt close to passing out
Inter Milan hero Davide Frattesi has admitted that his goal celebration was so wild that he felt like he was close to passing out. Frattesi was the match winner for Inter on a dramatic night in the San Siro, climbing off the bench to score the final goal in a 4-3 win which sent them past Barcelona and into the Champions League final.
Inter had been in command of the game early on, having taken a 2-0 lead on the night thanks to Lautaro Martinez's tap-in and Hakan Calhanoglu's contentious penalty.
But Barcelona roared back to lead 3-2 after Raphinha found the bottom corner in the 87th minute to add to earlier strikes from Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo.
The home side were moments away from exiting the competition when Denzel Dumfries crossed for veteran defender Francesco Acerbi, who finished like a prime centre-forward to make it 3-3 and send the match into extra time.
Barca had been in the ascendancy in the second half but Frattesi picked out the bottom corner with a cool finish from Mehdi Taremi's lay-off to give Inter the lead 7-6 on aggregate and they held on to progress to the showpiece in Munich later this month, where they will play the winner of Paris Saint-Germain vs Arsenal.
Frattesi was introduced by Simone Inzaghi as a 79th-minute replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and embodied the Inter fight. After scoring, he sprinted to the corner flag screaming before climbing a gate to get closer to the home fans - and he certainly felt the effects of his exertions.
"I was fortunate to see out the game, as I was celebrating so much I was dizzy and nearly had a blackout!" Frattesi admitted. "I have to thank the physios, because yesterday I had an abdominal strain, so they did incredibly work getting me fit for this match.
"It's just incredible, I don't know what to say. I thought after the Bayern Munich game I couldn't repeat that emotion, but it was even more incredible tonight. This is the beauty of football. This has been my career, really. I wasn’t blessed with incredible talent, but I am the last to give up and the first to believe, so this is a reward for effort and dedication."
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Frattesi went down on the pitch a few minutes after his goal and needed treatment from the Inter medical staff. But he made it to the end of the 120 minutes as goalkeeper Yann Sommer made some stunning saves to deny Lamine Yamal.
Frattesi has now assured himself of hero status among Inter supporters, having also scored a late winner in their quarter-final first leg win over Bayern Munich in early April. Back then, the midfielder ripped off his shirt to celebrate the goal to make it 2-1 in Bavaria and dedicated it to his late grandmother.