Inter Milan replaced Andre Onana with Yann Sommer in the summer of 2023 and the veteran goalkeeper put on a man-of-the-match performance in their dramatic win over Barcelona
Wayne Rooney showered Yann Sommer with praise after the Inter Milan goalkeeper played a crucial role in sending his side into the Champions League final. Sommer made some massive saves to help Inter overcome Barcelona 4-3 in an epic encounter at the San Siro.
Inter appeared to be heading out of the competition after Raphinha’s goal saw Barca come from 2-0 down to lead 3-2 in the 87th minute. But Francesco Acerbi’s stunning finish in the 93rd minute sent the match to extra time with the scores level at 6-6 on aggregate.
The Italian team then completed the scoring through Davide Frattesi, who showed great composure to pick out the bottom corner. The home side needed Sommer to be on top form to make sure of their victory, though, with the Swiss international forced into some flying stops.
He got his fingertips to two curling efforts from Lamine Yamal that looked destined for the top corner and made a jaw-dropping save from Eric Garcia, who had the goal gaping from a cross. Sommer, 36, was named man of the match after increasing his save count to 14 across the two legs.
“His performance was top class and he fully deserves the man-of-the-match award,” Rooney said on Amazon Prime. “That’s what you need when you’re trying to win trophies and get to finals, you need your goalkeeper to come up with big moments and big saves and that’s what he’s done.
“Some will say that’s his job and he’s there to save the ball, but it’s the amount of saves across the two legs.”
Sommer was signed for just €6million (£5m) from Bayern Munich after the club sold Andre Onana to Manchester United for £43m in the summer of 2023.
“It was a crazy game,” he said. “I am really proud of this team and how we played. We were already kind of out and then we came back – amazing.
“It means a lot – you don’t have a lot of chances to go to a final. We knew that in the last four minutes of extra time that it was our last chance to go through. We put everything on this pitch with the fans together and now we are really happy.”
Speaking to Sky Sports Italia, he picked out the final save from Yamal as the best of the lot. “That last stop on Lamine was a really special one,” he said. “He’s an extremely talented player, always trying to cut inside and shoot. I’m just glad that shot didn’t go in.”
“This match shows we believe until the very end. Just look at Acerbi. We kept believing to the last second.” Inter will play Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal, who face off in the second semi-final in the French capital on Wednesday night.