Inter Miss Out on Automatic Qualification Despite Late Win Over Dortmund

Inter Milan narrowly missed out on automatic qualification for the Champions League round of 16 despite securing a 2–0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in Germany. The result saw the Nerazzurri finish 10th in the league-phase standings, just one point short of the top eight.

While the scoreline suggests a comfortable evening, the match itself was low on quality for long stretches. Last season’s finalists struggled to impose themselves, matched by a Dortmund side that lacked attacking sharpness throughout. It ultimately took moments of individual brilliance in the final ten minutes to decide the contest.

Federico Dimarco broke the deadlock with a superb free-kick late on, before Andy Diouf added a second in stoppage time to seal the win against a largely toothless Dortmund outfit.

The hosts arrived in strong domestic form, with Niko Kovač’s side suffering just one defeat in their previous 10 matches and sitting second in the Bundesliga. Dortmund also boasted an imposing Champions League home record, unbeaten in 21 European matches at Signal Iduna Park. However, that reputation counted for little on the night as they struggled to create meaningful chances and eventually slipped to a 17th-place finish in the table.

Dortmund started slightly brighter, dominating possession in the opening exchanges. Their best chance of the first half came inside the opening ten minutes when Serhou Guirassy almost added to his Champions League tally. A loose half-volley from Julian Ryerson fell kindly for the striker inside the six-yard box, but his off-balance effort was comfortably saved by Yann Sommer.

That early warning seemed to settle Inter, who gradually grew into the game. Dimarco and Luis Henrique went close with speculative efforts, but neither goalkeeper was seriously tested before the interval. Inter’s clearest first-half opening fell to Ange-Yoan Bonny, whose header from a floated cross landed straight into the gloves of Gregor Kobel.

The second half followed a similar pattern, with both sides struggling to produce quality in the final third. Clear-cut chances were scarce, and by the hour mark, Sommer and Kobel had been largely untroubled.

Substitute Sebastiano Esposito almost changed that when he found himself one-on-one with Kobel, only for Ramy Bensebaini to make a vital last-ditch tackle. Dortmund responded moments later as Karim Adeyemi broke through on goal, but Sommer reacted well to deny the German international.

With ten minutes remaining, the contest finally sparked into life. Dimarco stepped up and curled a sublime free-kick over the wall and into the top-right corner, scoring his fourth goal in seven Champions League appearances and giving Inter the breakthrough they had been searching for.

Deep into stoppage time, Inter doubled their lead. A mistake from Adeyemi allowed Andy Diouf to drive forward, and after a series of fortunate ricochets including a deflection off Jobe Bellingham the ball wrong-footed Kobel and trickled into the bottom corner.

The victory marked Inter’s first Champions League win after a run of three consecutive defeats, offering a glimpse of the form that saw them win their opening four European matches earlier in the campaign. However, it was not enough to secure a top-eight finish.

Cristian Chivu’s side ended the league phase on 15 points, just one short of automatic qualification, while Dortmund finished 17th on 11 points. Both sides will now enter the Champions League play-offs as they continue their pursuit of a place in the last 16.