Who is Francesco Acerbi, scorer of the 90+3 goal for Inter and oldest player of the match

Among all the protagonists of the memorable Champions League semi-final between Inter and Barça, one that stands out is Francesco Acerbi, who scored the goal for Inter in the 90+3, that equalised the match, going to extra time when many Barcelona fans had already started celebrating the victory.

Acerbi, who plays as centre-back, was the oldest player at the match, aged 37 (born on February 1988). A goal like that would be the most important goal of his career, but it was also his first goal ever at Champions League.

Acerbi has never played outside of Italy. In fact, he played in the lower tiers of Italian football until he was 22, when he was purchased by Reggina, a Serie B, club. He didn't make his Serie A debut until 2011, playing for Chievo. He later played for AC Milan, Genoa, Sassuolo, and Lazio, who signed him in 2018 and loaned him to Inter in 2022.

Eventually, the Nerazzurri purchased him, and that has allowed him to reach to Champions League finals: 2023, losing to Manchester City, and now 2025, against PSG or Arsenal.

Francesco Acerbi overcame cancer, grief for his father and alcoholism

Acerbi has also played for the Italian national team since 2014, winning the UEFA Euro 2020.
In 2013, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but did not stop training even when going through chemotherapy. He also suffered depression because of the death of his father and avoided falling into alcoholism. "Cancer saved me. I had something to fight against again, a limit to overcome", he recalled in 2019.