Simone Inzaghi hailed Inter for playing as a "real team" after the Nerazzurri battled past Juventus to reach the Coppa Italia final.
Federico Dimarco's first-half strike proved the difference as Inter defeated Juve 1-0 at San Siro on Wednesday, securing a 2-1 aggregate triumph in the semi-final tie.
Victory kept Inter's Coppa defence alive, having beaten Juve in last year's final, while the Nerazzurri are also in the Champions League semi-finals – where they face fierce rivals Milan.
Massimiliano Allegri's side offered little with a performance in stark contrast to a fiery first leg, and Inzaghi believes his side were good value for their triumph.
"It was an intense match from start to finish, we deserved to reach the final," the Inter coach told Mediaset.
"We are very happy, we wanted to return to Rome [to the Stadio Olimpico for the May 24 final]."
Inter outclassed Allegri's visitors in all departments, with Juve mustering an expected goals tally of just 0.15 to the Nerazzurri's 1.19.
It also marked Inter's first Coppa semi-final victory over Juve in six attempts as the Nerazzurri reached the last four in back-to-back seasons for the first time since doing so between 2009 and 2011.
"They were very good, they had a great race tonight," Inzaghi said of his players. "We did not lose a yard against a strong team, we have remained united and compact, we have been a real team.
"Whoever entered played his part. I take away many excellent points."
Dimarco was the hero in front of his home crowd, scoring his fifth goal in all competitions this season – only Achraf Hakimi (seven in 2020-21) has managed more in the last 10 seasons among Inter defenders.
The Inter left-back was quick to share the praise, though, pinpointing his team-mates' will to fight as the driving factor for their success.
Asked what the difference was for Inter, Dimarco told Mediaset: "There are no secrets. In this group everyone is fighting for the shirt and to show what they're worth."
"We played an excellent match. It was what we wanted and we achieved it with a good victory."
Haaland pinpoints collective Man City quality after four-goal blitz of Wolves
Erling Haaland blasted four goals past Wolves in a one-man Premier League show but the Manchester City forward says it would not be possible without manager Pep Guardiola or his team-mates.
The City talisman took his top-flight tally to 25 for this season, moving five clear of his nearest challenger in the Premier League Golden Boot race, after Saturday's 5-1 thrashing of Wolves.
Haaland was twice on target from the penalty spot as part of his first-half hat-trick, adding another after the interval with an arrowed strike into the top-left corner.
It was the first time the Norway star has managed four goals in one Premier League game, with his quartet of strikes coming in 54 minutes. Only Gabriel Jesus has scored as many earlier in one match, doing so in 53 minutes against Watford in April 2022.
Haaland also became the third player to score multiple first-half hat-tricks in Premier League history (also against Nottingham Forest last season), along with Andrew Cole and Michael Owen (two each).
Yet the superstar attacker says his exploits would not be possible without his City colleagues or boss Guardiola.
"I've got a not-too-bad manager who pushes me and look at the players around me," Haaland told Sky Sports when asked about his motivations.
"Without them, it would not be possible. Look ahead, look to next one – four finals left for the season. We're going to go for it and focus on Fulham."
It was Haaland's sixth Premier League hat-trick for City, with only seven players netting more in the competition’s history. All six of those trebles have been at the Etihad, only three have more at a single venue.
Haaland's second strike came from a towering header following Rodri's right-wing centre, which he suggested would delight his father Alfie.
"That's a beautiful goal," the Norwegian said of his headed finish. "My father is going to be happy with that one.
"A nice celebration, I enjoyed that one. I'm scoring more headers, I try to develop and keep going."
City are within a point of Premier League leaders Arsenal and Guardiola's side still have a game in hand against Tottenham on May 14.
Despite the thrashing of Wolves, Haaland insists Guardiola remains intent on winning the remaining games, rather than calculating the probabilities needed on goal difference.
"First of all it's about winning the games but, of course, you want to have the best possible goal difference," he added. "Let's not think about that. Think about Fulham."
Mallorca 0-1 Atletico Madrid: Early Riquelme strike earns narrow win
Atletico Madrid closed in on a Champions League spot after winger Rodrigo Riquelme's early strike earned his side a 1-0 win at Mallorca in LaLiga on Saturday.
With four games remaining, Diego Simeone's side are fourth in the standings on 67 points, six ahead of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who beat Getafe on Friday.
There was an end-of-the-season feel at a half-empty Son Moix stadium with both teams lacking urgency in a lacklustre match, with the only standout moment being Riquelme's fine individual effort in the fifth minute, which ultimately secured the win for the visitors.
Riquelme pounced on a loose ball in the edge of the box and cleared two defenders before unleashing an unstoppable strike just inside the right post.
Data Debrief: Mallorca's blunt attack easily stopped
Mallorca mustered an expected goals of just 0.24 in this game, and they have now failed to score in 15 of their 34 league games this season. Only Cadiz (17) have failed to score more often in the competition this term.
That is despite the hosts having attempted 526 passes in this game, their highest total in a single league match this season.
Sassuolo 1-0 Inter: Serie A champions suffer surprise defeat
Inter suffered only their second defeat in Serie A this season as a first-half goal by Armand Lauriente gave relegation-threatened Sassuolo a crucial 1-0 victory.
Sassuolo have a unique hold over Simone Inzaghi's side this season, as the only team to beat Inter in the league, having secured a 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in September.
The result was a big boost in Sassuolo's battle against relegation, as they sit second from bottom on 29 points, with only three points between them and Cagliari in 14th place.
Lauriente got the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Josh Doig managed to wrestle the ball back from Denzel Dumfries near the corner flag and pulled it back, with Sassuolo's matchwinner on hand to slot into the net from close range.
Data Debrief: Long time coming
This was the first time Inter have lost a league match against a team in the bottom two of the standings since way back in November 2014. On that occasion, they went down 2-0 to Parma.
Lauriente, meanwhile, has scored four Serie A goals since the beginning of April, a joint-record in the period in the top-flight (level with Hakan Calhanoglu).
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
