Inter Milan and Wolfsburg faced off in the second leg of their last-16 clash in the Europa League at the San Siro.
Dieter Hecking's side held a 3-1 lead in the tie from the first leg, leaving the Nerazzurri needing two unanswered goals to advance to the last eight of the competiton.
However, the German side prevailed as Daniel Caligiuri fired them ahead in the 24th minute to hand the visitors control of the match.
Rodrigo Palacio gave Inter a glimmer of hope in the second half, but Nicklas Bendtner sealed his side's win with a late strike to send them into the quarter-finals.
Read how all the action unfolded in our commentary below.
Good evening and welcome to the live commentary of the second leg of the Europa League last-16 clash between Inter Milan and Wolfsburg.
Dieter Hecking's side will feel that they have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League following their 3-1 win over the Serie A team last week thanks to Kevin De Bruyne's second-half brace. Another strong outing will surely see them through, despite Inter's valuable away goal from the boot of Rodrigo Palacio.
Wolfsburg are in excellent form and have lost just once in all competitions in their last 21 outings. Hecking will have his side well organised for the trip to the San Siro, as although the German side are in a strong position, matters can change very quickly with a goal for Roberto Mancini's men.
The Nerazzurri come into the match struggling for form as they have failed to win any of their last four matches in all competitions, including their 3-1 defeat to Wolfsburg in the first leg. Mancini will need to find a way to reinvigorate his team to reach the last eight of the competition this evening.
The team news has been announced and we'll start with the home side.
INTER STARTING XI: Carrizo, Campagnaro, Ranocchia, Juan, Santon, Guarin, Medel, Hernanes, Kovacic, Palacio, Icardi
Subs: Handanovic, Vidic, Kuzmanovic, Obi, Puscas, D'Ambrosio, Shaqiri
Subs: Handanovic, Vidic, Kuzmanovic, Obi, Puscas, D'Ambrosio, Shaqiri
WOLFSBURG STARTING XI: Benaglio, Trasch, Knoche, Klose, Rodriguez, Guilavogui, Luiz Gustavo, Vieirinha, De Bruyne, Caligiuri, Dost
Subs: Bendtner, Schafer, Perisic, Schurrle, Grun, Jung, Arnold
Subs: Bendtner, Schafer, Perisic, Schurrle, Grun, Jung, Arnold
Mancini has rung the changes for the clash this evening from his side's 1-1 draw against Cesena at the weekend. Hugo Campagnaro, Davide Santon, Juan, Hernanes, Mateo Kovacic and Pablo Carrizo all come into the team at the San Siro. Meanwhile, Hecking has named an unchanged team from their 3-0 victory over Freiburg in their Bundesliga outing on Sunday.
Despite his side's lack of form Mancini is upbeat over his side's chances this evening, he told reporters: "There is hope and we must try.
"We need to win by 2-0 and it's possible to do so. It would be fantastic although we know we are facing a very strong side. We really want to give our fans some joy and we need a special night where we make things happen."
Hecking is adamant that his side have to control proceedings this evening to ramp up the pressure on Inter at the San Siro, he told reporters: "After the first leg we have an advantage and the pressure is on Inter to turn the result around. This is their last chance to get to the end of a competition this season.
"It can happen that playing away from home we'll be pressed harder, but we have improved over the years in these competitions.
"Inter will try to get back at us, but we'll be concentrated on the game. We must try to control the pressure."
The players are out on the pitch and we should be underway shortly.
KICKOFF! We're underway in the San Siro.
Kovacic has a raid down the left flank for the home side as he tries to cut onto his right foot, but Trasch is there to make the tackle and stop the attack.
CHANCE! Hernanes is allowed to advance on goal down the middle as neither Knoche or Klose decide to close the forward down. From the edge of the box he unleashes a right-footed drive towards the bottom corner, which is beaten away by a good save from Benaglio.
CHANCE! Wolfsburg should be ahead as they hit the home side on a counter-attack with a plethora of numbers as De Bruyne pikcs out the run of Vieirinha down the right. The Portuguese floats a cross to the back post for Caligiuri, who strikes a left-footed volley at goal, but his strike goes into the ground and bounces over.
Action packed start to the game which is wide open. Palacio receives the ball on the edge of the box and tries to weave his way through, but is half-stopped by the Wolfsburg defence. He then tries to thread a through-ball into the path of Icardi, only for the striker to be flagged offside.
CHANCE! De Bruyne wins the ball in a deep area of the pitch and threads a pass through to Dost who bears down on goal. The striker takes a poor touch inside the box as Carrizo advances and the keeper is able to smother the ball at the feet of the Dutchman. A golden chance spurned by Dost.
CHANCE! The defending hasn't been great at the start of this match and Caligiuri continues this them as takes a swipe at Santon's cross only to miss the ball. It lands at the feet of Icardi at the back post, but he can't fire his effort on target as he blazes a right-footed volley over the bar. The striker should have at least tested Benaglio from that distance.
The pace of the game appears to be calming down as the home side are trying to maintain their composure by knocking the ball around at the back. The right thing to do at the moment as they lost their shape and left a lot of space for the German side to exploit. Losing at goal at this stage would be disastrous for Inter.
Santon raids down the flank as he has down quite often in the early stages of this game. On this occasion he gets to the byline, but his cross is all wrong as it slams into the sidenetting. The Italian wants a corner, but referee Mark Clattenburg points for a goal kick much to the fury of the former Newcastle United man.
De Bruyne causes problems for the home side again as he whips a dangerous cross into the middle looking for the run of Dost, but Ranocchia is alert to the danger and makes a good clearance in front of his own net to put the ball behind for a corner.
Inter show steel at the back to come through a sustained period of pressure from Wolfsburg as the visitors forced three corners on the spin. A great match so far!
CHANCE! Space opens up for Guarin to strike the ball from distance, only to see his shot deflected into the path of Icardi inside the box. The striker drills an effort towards the bottom corner, but Benaglio is there to make a brilliant one-handed save.
GOAL! Inter 0-1 Wolfsburg (Caligiuri)
A huge moment in the tie as Wolfsburg take the lead on the night and get a crucial away goal, which could take the match beyond the reach of Mancini's men. De Bruyne races down the left flank and cuts the ball into the middle for the unmarked Caligiuri who has only Carrizo to beat. His strike from close range is partially stopped by the keeper, but the ball has enough momentum to cross the line.
The atmosphere inside the San Siro has dropped off completely. Inter need three goals to get back into this match now, and that will only earn them extra time. Mancini needs to do something drastic to inspire his side now.
Kovacic does his utmost to try and get a goal back for his side as he attempts an ambitious effort from 30 yards. His strike does have the power to trouble Benaglio but not the pace as his effort sails over the bar.
CHANCE! Hernanes does well down the right and digs out a cross into the middle for the unmarked Kovacic, but the forward cannot get any power or direction on his header as his effort goes off target and his Palacio in an offside position. The 20-year-old should have hit the target there at the very least.
Wolfsburg break forward in numbers again as Vieirinha speeds down the right and cuts the ball back into the path of Luis Guztavo. The Brazilian drills an effort at goal with power from distance, but Carrizo is able to catch the ball with relative ease.
CHANCE! Inter continue to press forward as Palacio shows quality to beat a man to lift a cross into the box for the run of Icardi. The striker gets up above Knoche to head the ball at goal, but once again the effort is tame and presents a comfortable save for Benaglio.
CHANCE! Almost game over as De Bruyne feeds the ball to Caligiuri who tries to curl his strike past Carrizo into the bottom corner, but the keeper pushes the ball past the post to keep his side in the match.
Wolfsburg have opted to sit back in this match and have allowed the home side to have the majority of the ball. Their tactics have worked to great effect as they have been able to use the space on the counter to carve out the better of the chances. Meanwhile their defending has been very stout, which will delight Hecking.
CHANCE! A cross from the right sails to the back post and lands perfectly at the feet of Guarin. The midfielder takes the shot first time as he smashes the ball towards the net, but Benaglio somehow keeps the ball out with his body with an incredible block to deny Guarin a certain goal.
There will be one minute of added time.
Minor drama towards the end of the half as Rodriguez drives a free kick over the bar from distance, while the home side had the ball in the Wolfsburg box once again, but a great tackle from Klose prevented Kovacic from firing at goal.
HALF-TIME: Inter 0-1 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg have one foot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League as Daniel Caligiuri's strike in the 24th minute has presented the German side with a three-goal cushion at the San Siro, which surely will be too much for Inter to overturn in the second half. Dieter Hecking will be delighted with his team as they have played out his gameplan to perfection as they have been resilient at the back and extremely dangerous on the break.
The task for Inter in the second half is to score three goals or face elimination for the competition. Roberto Mancini's men have had plenty of possession in the final third of the pitch, but they have lacked the quality to beat Diego Benaglio in the Wolfsburg goal. Fredy Guarin, Mauro Icardi, Rodrigo Palacio and Mateo Kovacic have all had decent attempts to find the net, but have failed to far in their quest. Mancini will need those players to step up in the second half to inspire his team to an unlikely victory.
The players are back out so we should be back underway shortly.
RESTART! We're back underway at the San Siro.
Inter begin the half like they started the first with plenty of the ball, but with a complete lack of penetration against the Wolfsburg backline.
CHANCE! De Bruyne breaks through the middle and races towards goal as he collects a pass on the halfway line. The Belgian has Dost in support and tries to find his run as he breaks into the box, but he just overhits his pass and allows Carrizo to gather the ball, despite the best efforts of the striker.
SUBSTITUTION: Kovacic is replaced by Kuzmanovic for the home side.
Wolfsburg work the ball well down the right on two occasions within 30 seconds of each other as first Vieirinha plays a one-two with De Bruyne to find space down the flank, but he overhits his cross to an unmarked Dost in the area. The German side manage to play the ball back over to the right for Trasch to break this time, but his cross is cut out by Juan.
CHANCE! De Bruyne and Dost combine on the edge of the box as the forward is able to release the Belgian free in the box with a lovely touch, but the former Chelsea man has his first blemish of the evening as he fires his effort past the post.
There has been no lack of effort from Inter this evening. However, they have lacked quality and ideas in the final third of the pitch, which has put them in this situation needing three goals in final 30 minutes of the match.
SUBSTITUTION: Former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner replaces Dost for the visitors.
CHANCE! Palacio collects a pass down the left and weaves his way through one tackle before firing an effort towards the near post, but Benaglio is alert to the danger and makes a good stop down the his right.
CHANCE! Wolfsburg should kill off the game as Ranocchia loses the ball on the edge of his own box as Vieirinha steals the ball and feeds it to De Bruyne. The Belgian has space for the shot, but tries to work the ball back to Vieirinha who isn't on the same page and Inter are able to clear the danger. That was a great chance to kill the game off.
CHANCE! Hernanes breaks forward to the edge of the box and isn't closed down by Knoche, which gives him time to shoot at goal. The Brazilian's effort beats Benaglio, but the ball trickles past the post.
GOAL! Inter 1-1 Wolfsburg (Palacio)
Inter give themselves a glimmer of hope as Palacio finds the net with a well-taken strike from inside the box. The Argentine played the ball to Hernanes who did extremely well to knock an angled pass back into the forward, and Palacio took the strike first time and found the bottom corner.
SUBSTITUTION: Perisic comes onto the pitch for the visitors to replace Caliguiri.
Inter have a spring in their step now as Campagnaro bombs down the right wing and lifts a cross to the back post for Kuzmanovic to attack. The midfielder beats Trasch in the air, but he can only guide his headed effort over the bar.
We're set for an entertaining finish to this match as Inter are committing numbers forward to press for a second goal, while the visitors are looking dangerous on the counter once more. The next goal will be vital!
CHANCE! Trasch raids down the right flank and just manages to squeeze his cross into the path of Bendtner at the near post. The Dane gets contact on the ball, but Juan takes the power off the effort with a solid block, which makes the save comfortable for Carrizo.
YELLOW CARD De Bruyne is the first player into the book this evening for a poor challenge on D'Ambrosio outside the box. It gives the home side a free kick in a dangerous position.
The free kick from Hernanes manages to miss everyone in the box and goes out for a throw-in. Not the best delivery from the Brazilian.
SUBSTITUTION: Late change for Wolfsburg as Vieirinha is replaced by Max Arnold.
YELLOW CARD Arnold goes straight into the book for clashing with Medel.
YELLOW CARD Medel tries to get his own back by clattering Arnold when he's in mid-air, and is booked by the referee.
GOAL! Inter 1-2 Wolfsburg (Bendtner)
That should be it as Bendtner finds the net from close range as he volley's past Carrizo after collecting Arnold's pas inside the box. It was a lovely move from the visitors as Gustavo released the run of Arnold with a sublime through ball and the striker teed up his teammate, who finished well with a volley into the bottom corner.
There will be two minutes of added time.
FULL-TIME: Inter 1-2 Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 5-2 aggregate win.
Wolfsburg put in a solid performance at the San Siro to advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Daniel Caligiuri fired the visitors ahead on the night midway through the first half to leave Inter with a mountain to climb to get back into the tie. Dieter Hecking's men never looked in real danger, despite a strike from Rodrigo Palacio in the 71st minute, as Nicklas Bendtner made sure of the victory with a cool finish.
Hecking's men look a quality outfit and strong enough to win the competition based on their performance over the two legs of this tie. Meanwhile, Inter have a lot of work to do to resolve their problems as they showed a real lack of penetration and ideas in the final third tonight, bar one moment from Palacio. A lot to mull over on this display for Roberto Mancini.
Thanks for joining our commentary this evening. Be sure to stick around for all the reaction from tonight's games on Sports Mole, but from me, it's goodbye.
