Given that Inter had never lost a UCL or European Cup knockout tie after winning the first leg away from home, the San Siro was always going to be a daunting prospect for an injury-hit Bayern.
Vincent Kompany’s men nevertheless laid out their intentions from the off, with the outgoing Thomas Muller causing all sorts of mayhem and joining Michael Olise in mustering shots on goal.
Inter then required a thunderous last-ditch challenge from the talismanic Alessandro Bastoni to thwart Olise, but the hosts also had chances of their own through Federico Dimarco and Hakan Calhanoglu, who fired wide from distance.
The visitors piled on the pressure just before the interval in response, with Leroy Sane and Joshua Kimmich both hitting on target. Yann Sommer’s saves meant Inter extended their record of conceding just one first-half goal in the UCL this season, but they only managed to survive a matter of minutes without doing so in the second.
Harry Kane, who had been quiet until that point, received it from Leon Goretzka and stared down Dimarco before firing out of nowhere into the far bottom corner.
But the response from Inter was nothing short of extraordinary. Just as in the first leg, they hit back to Bayern’s goal within minutes, with Lautaro Martinez pouncing on a loose ball following a corner to power into the bottom left.
The San Siro faithful went wild when the Argentine became the first Inter player to score in five consecutive UCL appearances, and they were soon in raptures again as former Bayern defender Benjamin Pavard towered above Kim Min-jae to thunder a header down the centre of Urbig’s net.
Eric Dier had made a stunning goal-line clearance just before that second, and he soon restored the deficit to one by meeting Serge Gnabry’s cross and somehow looping his header into the far corner from a very tight angle.
But the German side waited until stoppage time to apply any real pressure, and Inter held on in the face of it to keep their treble hopes alive along with a 15-match unbeaten UCL home run – the longest active streak in the competition.
The 2010 champions will now face Barcelona in a bid to reach the final for the second time in three seasons, while Bayern and Kane miss out on another trophy – although the Bundesliga looks to be theirs to reclaim this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Benjamin Pavard (Inter Milan)