Federico Dimarco and Andy Diouf were on target in the second half as Inter defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-0, but it was not enough to send the Nerazzurri straight through to the Champions League's last 16.

After a dire first half at Signal Iduna Park, Dimarco scored with a wonderful free-kick with 10 minutes remaining – a goal that momentarily put Inter into the top eight of the table.

But, by the time Diouf netted a late second, Inter had already slipped to 10th, and they will now face either Bodo/Glimt or Benfica – whose goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin dramatically scored a 98th-minute goal in a 4-2 win over Real Madrid to keep them in the competition – in the play-offs.

In a first half that was utterly forgettable, Dortmund – who finished 17th and will now face Atalanta or Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen – saw Serhou Guirassy fluff a shot straight at Yann Sommer when the ball fell kindly for him in the area.

Ange-Yoan Bonny then wasted a free header just before the break, but it was a wonderful free-kick from Dimarco that curled into the right-hand side of the net and brought some quality to proceedings.

Dortmund were then caught high from a late throw-in, and Inter worked the ball into the feet of Diouf, whose shot was tepid and clipped Jobe Bellingham, but still rolled into the bottom-right corner.

Data Debrief: Diouf emulates French and Inter greats

For a long time, it looked as though this game was heading for a draw until Dimarco scored his second Champions League goal on his 43rd appearance in the competition.

Diouf went one better right at the end of the game, netting his first ever in Europe's elite competition, on his fourth appearance.

He is the fifth French player to score a Champions League goal for Inter, after Marcus Thuram (seven), Benjamin Pavard, Youri Djorkaeff and Patrick Vieira (one each).

Consequently, Inter have recorded back-to-back away wins against German teams in the Champions League for the first time, after they also beat Bayern Munich 2-1 at the Allianz Arena in the first leg of their quarter-final tie last season.