Lukaku and Martinez score a brace each as Italian giants demolish Ukrainian champs Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 to set up summit clash with Sevilla on Friday
Inter's Romelu Lukaku celebrates his goal against Shakhtar during their UEFA Europa League semi-final on Monday. pics/Getty Images
Inter Milan is back in a European final for the first time in a decade, and the Italian team is playing like it's never been away. Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku scored twice each as Inter ended its wait Monday, demolishing Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. Inter ground down Shakhtar in what was at first a tight, defensive game before scoring four times in the last half-hour.
The Italian club will face five-time winner Sevilla in the final on Friday in Cologne.
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Coach Conte satisfied
"We reached the final by beating a very strong team, don't get fooled by the result," Inter coach Antonio Conte said. "We were good not allowing them to play the way they wanted." Since arriving last year, Conte has imposed discipline on what had been a fractious Inter squad and rebuilt it around Lukaku, who has 33 goals in his first season with the club.
Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez is ecstatic after scoring on Monday
Headers from Martinez in the 19th minute and Danilo D'Ambrosio in the 64th put Inter on course to play for its first major continental trophy since winning the Champions League in 2010 under Jose Mourinho. Martinez and Lukaku added three more goals in 10 minutes to make sure of the result.
Lukaku has scored in all five of Inter's Europa League games this campaign, and in a record 10 consecutive Europa League games, including five he played for Everton in 2014-15. Inter won the UEFA Cup, as the Europa League was then known, in 1991, 1994 and 1998. Conte's team goes into the final on a six-game winning run, having conceded only once in its last seven games, in the 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen in the quarter-finals.
Shakhtar outplayed
Shakhtar were also trying to emulate past European glories after winning the UEFA Cup in 2009. "They completely closed down the start of our attacks," coach Luis Castro said through a translator.
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