Lautaro Martinez scored twice as Champions League finalists Inter Milan came from behind to beat Fiorentina 2-1 and retain their Italian Cup title on Wednesday
Inter will undoubtedly be the underdogs against either Real Madrid or Manchester City in Istanbul on June 10, but the way they managed both legs of this all-Milan tie suggests they will be hard to beat.
Lukaku celebrated his 30th birthday by beginning and ending the scoring at the San Siro, spinning and lashing home the opener from the edge of the box shortly before half-time and drilling in his eighth league goal of the season just before the end.
Inter hold a 2-0 lead over Milan ahead of Tuesday's second leg and Simone Inzaghi's side look almost certain to reach their first Champions League final since they last won it in 2010.
Inter have the upper hand ahead of Tuesday's second leg of the biggest Milan derby of a generation thanks to strikes in the first 11 minutes from Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan
AC Milan forced their way back into the Serie A top four with a 2-0 victory over second-place Lazio on Saturday in a timely boost ahead of their Champions League semi-final clash with city rivals Inter next week
Inter had come into Wednesday's clash in a miserable run of form in which their only win in their last eight games had come in last week's first leg in Portugal.
Nicolo Barella and Romelu Lukaku scored as Inter Milan defeated Benfica in UEFA Champions League.
Romelu Lukaku said Wednesday that history was repeating itself in Italian football after the Inter Milan striker was subjected to monkey chants by Juventus fans during the two teams' stormy cup clash
Lukaku, who was already on a booking for a late foul on Federico Gatti, put his finger in front of his mouth and told the crowd to "shut up" as his joyous teammates swamped him.
Holders Real Madrid will play Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the Champions League while Manchester City were drawn against Bayern Munich on Friday
The UEFA Champions League quarter-finals draw will be held on Friday at 4:30 PM IST. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Napoli are among the favourites to go through.
For the first time since 2006, both Inter and AC Milan have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Goals from Daniel Maldini and M'Bala Nzola either side of a Romelu Lukaku penalty handed fourth-from-bottom Spezia a crucial victory in their bid to avoid the drop
Gianluca Mancini fired Roma into Serie A's Champions League places with the only goal in Sunday's 1-0 win over Juventus, while Inter beat Lecce to regain second place
AC Milan moved up to third in Serie A after Sunday's 2-0 win over Atalanta, drawing level on points with Inter Milan, who fell further behind runaway leaders Napoli with a 1-0 defeat at Bologna
If Napoli's players are looking over their shoulders as they kick off the weekend's Serie A fixtures with a visit to struggling Empoli, it should be not at the distant chasing pack but at coach Luciano Spalletti
Romelu Lukaku boosted Inter Milan's chances of reaching the Champions League quarter finals for the first time in over a decade after scoring the only goal in Wednesday's 1-0 win over Porto