In a high-speed Champions League semifinal first leg encounter, Barcelona and Inter Milan came away with a convincing 3-3 draw.
Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries both had excellent strikes on Wednesday, but Barca couldn’t be stopped by Lamine Yamal, who had a sublime solo effort to bring the Italian team back into the game.
A Yann Sommer own goal put the tie at the halfway point before Ferran Torres levelled for the five-time champions, who had already beaten Inter by a blazing lead.
Thuram’s injury to his thigh set Inter on a verge of recovery, and he did just that with the fastest-ever Champions League semifinal goal in 30 seconds.
Jules Kounde, the Copa del Rey winner of the title, hacked a poor clearance to the edge of the box to make a profit for Barcelona.
Inigo Martinez slipped just in time as Dutch wideman Dumfries attempted to finish with a pass-the-middle-heel movie, which was flawless.
A nervous 50, 000-strong Olympic stadium crowd cheered on as Barcelona seized control and moved on.
Yamal, who was making his 100th appearance for Barcelona, requested a penalty after being shoved by Alessandro Bastoni, set up Torres, who fired wide.
The Spaniard volleyed just inches off target in place of Barca’s sluggish top goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.
Inter, whose triple hopes fell apart after three straight domestic defeats, came away with a second and a fine finish.
Dumfries reached the dropping ball first with a stunning acrobatic effort after Francesco Acerbi nodded on a corner.
Barcelona’s recent defensive struggles may have been minor, but Hansi Flick’s young side are unaffected by the string of European roadblocks that have occurred since they last won the competition in 2015.
The least-talented wizard was Yamal, who put Barcelona back in the game just three minutes later with a fantastic individual goal that made him the youngest semi-final scorer ever.
The Spaniard rejected comparisons to legendary Barca player Lionel Messi on the eve of the game, but his goal was straight out of the Argentinian’s script.
Before they could stop him, Yamal stroked an inch-perfect shot into off the left post after catching him off the right post and floated inside from the right flank.
Yamal nearly repeated the same mistake just a few seconds later. He evaded the pitch again this time, pausing for Federico Dimarco to lunge past him.
The youngster fired a shot that Sommer tipped onto the crossbar from a tight angle.
Yamal, who was high on confidence, gave Torres and Dani Olmo more chances that went begging before Barca equaled.
After 38 breathless minutes, Raphinha scored from close range after Pedri hooked a ball into the area and fired it into the goal.
Barca, who had previously replaced Gerard Martin with Ronald Araujo at half-time, were hit by Kounde’s limp before half-time.
After enduring a rough night up against the relentless Yamal, Dimarco hammered over in the opening half before Simone Inzaghi hooked him.
Early in the second half, Inter sucker-punched Barca, scoring from a corner with Dumfries’ header bouncing in off Olmo.
Yamal stepped over a corner on the edge of the box to give Raphinha the lead in less than two minutes to equalize.
The Brazilian’s rasping strike hit the crossbar before coming in off the unfortunate diving Sommer’s head.
After entering behind Barcelona’s high line, Pau Cubarsi made a crucial recovery tackle to stop Thuram, and Mkhitaryan had a goal that was ruled out due to a very tight offside.
Late in the second strike, Yamal slammed the crossbar, but neither team could get off the hook.
The winner of the Munich final will face Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal on May 31 in the second leg, which will take place in Milan on Tuesday.
Source: Aljazeera
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