In a high-speed Champions League semi-final first leg encounter on Wednesday, Barcelona and Inter Milan came away with a convincing 3-3 draw.
With superb strikes from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries, the Italian side jumped out to a two-goal lead before the unstoppable Lamine Yamal restored Barca’s lead with a sublime solo effort.
A Yann Sommer own goal put the tie at the halfway point, but Ferran Torres levelled for the five-time champions after Dumfries was denied again.
Raphinha’s fierce drive forced the own goal, noting that “let in that many goals (here), is unacceptable, but we also have to give Inter credit. They did very well,” he said.
The key is to leave with a result that allows for any kind of development.
Inter showed resilience and quality in Catalonia despite losing three domestic games in a row and seeing their triple hopes crumble.
We saw the real Inter tonight, after three straight defeats, and we played with heart, Dumfries said on Amazon Prime Video.
We obviously wanted to win, but I believe it was a good performance and still has a lot to gain.
Thuram’s injury to his thigh set Inter on a verge of recovery, and he did just that with the fastest ever Champions League goal in 30 seconds.
Inigo Martinez slipped just in time as Dutch wideman Dumfries attempted to finish with a pass that was clearly in the backheel and left Thuram.
The anxious Olympic stadium crowd cheered on as Barcelona seized control and moved on.
Yamal was leading the charge in his 100th appearance at Barcelona.
Inter scored their second goal in the middle of the third period. For the 2023 runners-up, Francesco Acerbi nodded on a corner before Dumfries scored with a stunning acrobatic effort.
Barcelona’s teams may have suffered in recent years, but Hansi Flick’s young side haven’t been affected by the string of European failures 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 turned down comparisons to the legendary Barca great Lionel Messi on the eve of the game, but his goal was straight out of the playbook.
Before defenders 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 mistake a minute later. Federico Dimarco lunged past him before he was let off the field this time, but he did so outside.
The youngster fired a shot that Sommer tipped onto the crossbar from a tight angle.
Battle without a breath
After 38 breathless minutes, Barca pulled level when Raphinha headed home from close range after Pedri’s ball was smacked into the area.
Barca’s midfielder Kounde limped off before half-time, which hurts, and Lautaro Martinez also suffered a broken leg.
After a miserable night facing the relentless Yamal, Dimarco hammered over early in the second half before Simone Inzaghi hooked him.
Early in the second half, Inter sucker-punched Barca, scoring from a corner with Dumfries’ header crashing in off of Dani 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.
Thuram was stopped when Pau Cubarsi’s crucial recovery tackle, which resulted in Mkhitaryan having a goal disallowed for a very tight offside, later saying he would consider it “perhaps for the rest of my life.”
Late in the second strike, Yamal slammed the crossbar, but neither team was able to stop themselves.
Source: Channels TV
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