Simone Inzaghi was beaming with pride as he pointed out Inter Milan had beaten “the best two sides in Europe” to reach a second Champions League final in three years.

He may well have added his own team to the list, as after knocking out Bayern Munich in the quarter-final the Nerazzurri had to overcome themselves as much as Barcelona in what is surely the greatest semi-final this glorious old competition has ever produced..

Thirteen goals were traded over the course of 210 minutes and despite leading on aggregate for just five of those, the Catalans were mere seconds away from a first Champions League final appearance in a decade until Francesco Acerbi’s 93rd minute equaliser forced the game into extra-time.

Now Davide Frattesi settled proceedings with a superbly-taken finish nine minutes into the first half, showing the kind of composure Inter had missed since half-time.

An injury doubt up until Tuesday, the Italy midfielder set off on a celebratory run reminiscent of Marco Tardelli’s iconic scream in the 1982 World Cup final as the metaphorical roof came off the San Siro.

It was a goal that will forever live in Inter’s memory, but perhaps not Frattesi’s.

“No idea, no idea,” came the response when asked by DAZN what he felt when the ball hit the back of the net.

“Actually, I’m lucky I even lasted the whole game because I was yelling so much that by the end, everything was just black.”

How fitting for Frattesi to be the man to decide this classic tussle. 

A regular for Italy, the 25-year-old has been a peripheral figure under Inzaghi, starting just 16 of his 47 appearances in all competitions this season after playing a total of just 935 minutes of football last term.

It was a familiar tale on Tuesday night, with Frattesi coming off the bench with 11 minutes left to replace Henrikh Mkhitaryan. 

“Frattesi wasn’t even part of training yesterday, but he did his best with painkillers to be ready,” Inzaghi revealed after the game.

That remark offered a telling insight into why the midfielder retains his manager’s implicit trust, despite seldom being a starter.

And if Frattesi’s goal summed up his Inter career, then this semi-final was a microcosm of the Nerazzurri’s season.

On the verge of greatness, Inter seemed to freeze once in sight of the finish line, their brains and legs scrambled by physical and mental fatigue.

To his credit, Inzaghi has never used tiredness as an excuse, but over the past month Inter have looked like a side running on fumes.

Dreams of repeating Jose Mourinho’s famous Triplete were quashed by a 3-0 thrashing against AC Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final.

Two consecutive defeats either side of the loss in the Derby della Madonnina handed Napoli the initiative in the Serie A title race, with the Partenopei three points ahead of Inter with three games left.

For 44 minutes, the second half against Barcelona was a snapshot of what the Nerazzurri have been for the past month. 

An ageing team running itself to a standstill, a predicament made worse by a series of injuries to key players. 

After hobbling off the pitch in Barcelona a week ago, Lautaro Martinez was only deemed fit enough to start at the San Siro less than 24 hours before kick-off.

The Argentine opened the scoring in the first half and won the penalty Hakan Çalhanoğlu converted to put Inter 2-0 up on the stroke of half-time, but was exhausted as he came off on the hour mark.

His strike partner, Marcus Thuram, only returned for the first leg against Barcelona after missing the previous three fixtures with injury, as did Denzel Dumfries, who was spectacular in both games against the Catalans.

At an average of 29.1 years Inter have the oldest squad in Serie A, exactly a full five years older than Barcelona.

On Tuesday night, the three oldest players on the pitch – Acerbi, Yann Sommer and Mkhitaryan – all wore black and blue. Inter’s youngest starter at 26, Alessandro Bastoni would have been the sixth-oldest player in Barcelona’s starting XI. Of the six subs Inzaghi used, Frattesi was the only player under 30. 

Conversely, Robert Lewandowski was the only Barcelona sub on the wrong side of 30, with four of the other five subs – Pau Victor, Gavi, Hector Fort and Fermin Lopez aged 23 or younger. 

But age is just a number and by the time 37-year-old Acerbi slammed in a dramatic late equaliser, Inter had a pulse. Both on the night and this season.

“Yes, we suffered. But there is no final without a little suffering,” Inzaghi said at the final whistle.

His players proved him right once more.