Lautaro Martinez has revealed he was not fully fit as he scored a key goal in Inter Milan’s dramatic win over Barcelona.
Inter confirmed their spot in the final after a hugely dramatic semi-final second leg. They took a 2-0 lead at halftime, before falling behind late on and equalising in the 93rd-minute to force extra time, where they eventually secured victory by way of a goal from Davide Frattesi.
Martinez opened the scoring on the day, firing home from Denzel Dumfries’ cross as the pair broke beyond Barcelona’s high line, but his involvement had been in doubt ahead of the match as he faced a race against time to recover from a knock sustained in the first leg.
He battled back to don the captain’s armband, though, telling Amazon Prime that he was not ‘at 100%’ ahead of the tie, thanking Inter’s medical staff for helping him recover enough to start.
He said: “It was really bad, I wasn't in a great place, wasn't 100% today.
“The medical staff worked so hard to try and get me match fit. Luckily, I was able to play today.”
Inter will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain in the final, their first since losing to Man City in Istanbul in 2023. Martinez completed 90 minutes of that match as Inter fell to a 1-0 loss.
Previewing this year’s final, he said: “We will do what we can, there is just one more step.
“We got to the final in 2023, but now we want to get there and win it.
“We will do all we can to get Inter Milan to the summit of European football.”
