Having survived that scare, Ajax began to make the occasional foray forward, though long-range shots by Lindenbergh and Mauro Rosales failed to test Inter keeper Francesco Toldo.

A minute before halftime Inter left-back Patrick Wome curled in a cross for Adriano on the edge of the box but the Brazilian's first touch let him down and the ball was cleared to cap a frustrating first half for the home side.

Inter began the second half as they had the first, with Adriano catching defender Thomas Vermaelen in possession before running into the area and sending over a cross which was too high for Martins.

Inter's Walter Samuel began the move that finally broke the deadlock. The Argentina defender intercepted an Ajax pass and pumped the ball forward to Stankovic who ran down the left, cut round Maduro and curled the ball home at the far post.

Ajax never looked like scoring the two goals they needed to win the match. The closest they came to hitting the target was seven minutes from time when Steven Pienaar unleashed a 25-metre drive which was directed straight at Toldo.

Visiting coach Danny Blind said Inter deserved to go through.

"Overall, over two legs, I can't say I'm too disappointed," he said.

"We played very well in the first half in Amsterdam. We could have scored three or four times.

"Today we barely had one chance but that was more to do with the quality of (Inter defenders) Samuel and (Marco) Materazzi."

It was the first time spectators were allowed in to the San Siro for a Champions League game since Inter played four matches behind closed doors following crowd trouble in last season's quarter-final against AC Milan.