Wayne Rooney lauded the efforts of Inter Milan keeper Yann Sommer after he helped his side reach the Champions League final following a chaotic second leg.
Much like the first leg, Inter raced into a two-goal lead but quickly found themselves pegged back early in the second half after goals from Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo.
The Italian side then found themselves on the brink of elimination when Raphinha scored an 87th-minute goal, but the hosts provided another twist in the tale as Francesco Acerbi’s injury-time equaliser sent the game to extra-time.
And there, Inter would go on to score the winning goal, as Davide Frattesi’s fine curling effort secured a remarkable 4-3 win and 7-6 aggregate triumph to book their spot in the final.
While goals were in no short supply on the night, it was Sommer’s superb display between the sticks that was vital in helping Inter come out on top.
The Swiss international made seven saves throughout the 120 minutes, twice denying Lamine Yamal at full stretch and also producing a superb stop to deny Garcia from close range.
‘His performance was top class and he fully deserves the man-of-the-match award,’ Rooney told Amazon Prime when asked about Sommer’s display.
‘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.’
Reflecting on one of the Champions League’s most dramatic knockout ties, Sommer, himself, was almost at a lost for words.
‘It was a crazy game. I am really proud of this team and how we played,’ he said. ‘We were already kind of out and then we came back – amazing.
‘It means a lot – you don’t have a lot of chances to go to a final. We knew that in the last four minutes of extra time that it was our last chance to go through.
‘We put everything on this pitch with the fans together and now we are really happy.’
Elsewhere, Clarence Seedorf was keen to heap praise on Inter forward Marcus Thuram who produced a superb moment on the ball to set up Frattesi’s winner.
‘He’s such an amazing person and I told him he needs to believe more in himself,’ the former Inter midfielder added.
‘I know a little bit of his background because I’m good with his father, Lilian. He doesn’t even know how good he is and that’s why he is a little bit up and down.
‘But I told him you can carry a team on your shoulders if you believe a little more in yourself.’
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