Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney has hailed the “top-class” performance of one player in Inter Milan’s Champions League win over Barcelona.
Inter Milan knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League semi-final and the Serie A outfit have reached the final of the competition in the 2024-25 campaign.
Barcelona and Inter played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium in late April ahead of the return leg at the San Siro.
Inter hosted Barcelona on Tuesday evening for their Champions League semi-final tie and Simone Inzaghi’s men sealed a sensational 4-3 victory in extra time.
The Nerazzurri were leading the La Liga outfit 2-0 going into the second half before Barcelona came from behind after the break and were 3-2 up at the San Siro.
However, Francesco Acerbi’s injury-time equaliser forced the return leg to extra time before Davide Frattesi found the winner for Inter in the first half of extra time.
Wayne Rooney on ex-Man Utd target Yann Sommer in the Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona
Inter Milan will now face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in the Champions League final on 31st May at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Paris Saint-Germain hold a 1-0 aggregate scoreline over Arsenal after the result at the Emirates and the Gunners will now travel to the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.
Yann Sommer was between the sticks for Inter in the 4-3 win over Barcelona and Wayne Rooney praised the 36-year-old Swiss shot-stopper’s performance.
The Switzerland international arrived at Inter in 2023 after he was signed from Bayern Munich and Yann Sommer was previously linked with Manchester United.
“His performance was top class and he fully deserves the man-of-the-match award,” Rooney said on Amazon Prime Video, as per The Daily Mirror.
“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.”
Yann Sommer was linked with Man Utd and could have replaced David de Gea at Old Trafford
According to ESPN in 2022, United were ‘working on a deal’ to sign Yann Sommer in the summer of 2023 when his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach would have expired.
Erik ten Hag was believed to be keen to bolster his options between the sticks at the time and the future of United legend David de Gea was also uncertain at the time.
However, Bayern Munich made a move for Sommer in the January transfer window in 2023 and signed him for a reported £8.3m fee from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Former United star David de Gea, who is now at Serie A side Fiorentina, would leave Old Trafford as a free agent at the end of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.
United would then make a move for Andre Onana and the Red Devils signed the 29-year-old former Ajax star from Italian side Inter in 2023 in a deal worth £47.2m.
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