Feyenoord had it all to do this evening, owing to a 2-0 defeat in the first leg last week, so their sluggish start was far from ideal. They were given an early warning sign when Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s strike from distance needed turning around the post by Timon Wellenreuther, but they didn’t heed it.
Only five minutes later, they found themselves behind, although there was little they could’ve done to deny Marcus Thuram, whose stunning solo run culminated with him thrashing an effort into the top corner to open the scoring.
Despite Feyenoord’s need for goals to get back into the tie, it was Inter doing most of the attacking work. Another lung-busting Thuram run almost yielded a second goal of the evening too, but this time he elected to tee up a teammate, finding the unmarked Mehdi Taremi on the edge of the area, but Wellenreuther was equal to his stinging drive.
The Dutch side had offered nothing throughout the first half, but they were handed a lifeline five minutes before the break when Hakan Calhanoglu brought down Jakub Moder in the area.
The former Brighton man dusted himself off and stepped forward from 12 yards to move Feyenoord back to within two goals on aggregate. The Polish international joined Bayer Leverkusen's Nordi Mukiele as the only men to score against Inter's stoic defence in Europe this season.
It would perhaps be harsh to suggest Ivan Kruzliak ‘evened things up’ after the interval, but he did award Inter a penalty of their own within five minutes of the restart when Thomas Beelen felled Taremi inside the area.
Calhanoglu redeemed his earlier error by dispatching the penalty low to Wellenreuther’s left. Inter thought they had another penalty when Thuram went to ground under another challenge from Beelen, and although Kruzliak initially pointed to the spot, he consulted the pitchside monitor and instead booked the French forward for simulation.
Inter’s number nine almost redeemed himself moments later, though, when he beat three defenders on his way into the area and rattled an effort against the underside of the crossbar.
That miss was futile in the grand scheme of the tie, as Inter cruised into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2022/23 when they reached the final. It was yet more disappointment for Feyenoord, though, who are now winless in nine away matches against Italian opposition in European competition.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marcus Thuram (Inter)