Undermanned Bayern, nursing a bulging casualty ward, set the tone in the first half-hour on Tuesday, with Michael Olise and Harry Kane narrowly failing to break through.
Inter opened the scoring on the 38-minute mark when Marcus Thuram’s clever back-heel found Lautaro Martinez who blasted home.
The Italians maintained control until Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, days after announcing a summer departure after 25 years at the club, scored the equaliser with a typical poacher’s finish with five minutes remaining.
Not content to be spectators to a Bayern fairytale ending, Inter broke on the counter just three minutes later, with Carlos Augusto finding Frattesi, who scored Inter’s second.
Inter, defeated in the final by Manchester City two seasons ago, have their noses in front in their bid to make the last four of the competition.
Inter goalscorer Martinez toasted the “complete performance”, telling Amazon Prime his side showed “character, personality”, adding “the boys showed what they were made of”.
The late goal consigned Bayern to their first home defeat in the Champions League since 2021, a run of 22 matches.
Two-time Champions League winner Mueller lamented Inter’s “stupid” late goal, saying “when we watch the footage, when we analyse it, we’ll know we could have done better.
“It wasn’t a brutal defeat. We’ve played the first half, the first leg – we imagined a different result but we know there’s still something in it for us.” (AFP)
