A humdinger of a Champions League semi-final this Wednesday has ended 3-3, leaving everything up in the air for next Tuesday’s second leg at the Giuseppe Meazza.
A first half that barely gave us a second to breathe and involved Inter stunning the Estadi Olimpic not once but twice, but Barça shrugged off the double setback and promptly got right back into the game by drenching the Italians with champagne football.
A solo screamer from Lamine Yamalin one of his most amazing performances yet, and a delightful team move finished off by Ferran Torres meant the teams were going in for break all square.
The momentum seemed to be with Barça going into the second half, but Inter struck back into the lead from a corner. A Raphinha screamer quickly levelled things up again, and both sides had chances to snatch a late winner in a gripping finale.
But 3-3 it ended, not the best result for Barça who probably deserved much more than they ultimately got, and who of course won’t have the home advantage when all this gets sorted out in six days’ time.
Inter strike twice
The reason Barça were 2-0 down after 21 minutes was two extraordinary goals from the visiting side. It took just 30 seconds for Marcus Thuramhis father watching from the stands, to skilfully back-heel a Denzel Dumfries cross home, the quickest goal in UCL semi-final history and one of the most sublime too.
And despite Barça’s very quick reaction, with two fine chances for Ferran Torresthey were caught out again by a spectacular Dumfries scissor kick.
Lesser teams might have crumbled already, but there was no despondent mood either among the Barça players or their supporters. They’ve got out of situations like this before and nobody doubted that they’d be able to to do it again.
Lamine magic
And nobody believed that more than Lamine Yamal. Just three minutes after Inter had doubled their lead, the teenager, who gave us a scare in the warm-up but was fine to play, majestically wove his way through the Italian defence and then delivered a stunning curled finish that bounded in off the far post.
Possibly the most beautiful goal yet from Lamine, and also one of the most important on the night of his 100th appearance.
Ferran leveller
Barça were back in business, and Lamine was on fire, hitting the crossbar after another dazzling display of skill, and as Barça pressed and pressed, Dani Olmo could also have scored before Ferran finally did produce the increasingly inevitable equaliser.
Pedri started it, Raphinha laid up with his head, and ‘the Shark’ whizzed through to finish off a lovely move with a blast from close range.
Not only had Barça confidently got themselves out of a tight spot, no mean feat against a side that until then had only leaked five goals in the whole competition, but the momentum was very much in their favour.
The only bad news was the loss of Jules Kounde to injury just before the half-time whistle. But Inter had their own concerns. Star striker Lutaauro Martinez failed to complete the first half either.
Back from behind again
The sensation buzzing around the terraces was one of anticipation of another famous Barça comeback, but Inter regrouped after the restart and were the stronger side in the build-up to their third goal. Dumfries headed in from a corner… but like before nobody wearing blaugrana lost heart.
Barça needed just two minutes to make it 3-3. Also from a corner, Raphinha fired the ball with such might that the sound of it rattling off the crossbar could be heard all around the stadium. The ball bounded straight off Yann summer’s back an into the net, and although it officially goes down as an own goal, the credit entirely belongs to the Brazilian.
End to end thrills
The game entered the kind of chaos mode that one normally expects when there are just minutes to play, not a whole half hour, and Inter were now finding it worryingly easy to work their way into dangerous positions. And Henrikh Mkhitaryan did find the net for what would have been 4-3 but Barça were saved by his big toe being centimetres ahead of Iñigo Martinez.
Hearts were really pounding now. Perhaps the Copa del Rey final hangover was setting in, because the visitors looked fresher, and now had most of the ball, and most of the bigger chances too.
Barça needed a second wind and in the final minute we got it. With Andreas Christensen on for the first time in 256 days, Barça started pounding Inter from every angle. Was that a shot or a cross from Lamine? It hit the bar, but had it gone in it would have been something quite extraordinary.
And then Raphinha looked to have had it with absolute belter from long range, but Sommer managed to get a hand on the ball and Barça’s late charge was in vain.
3-3 it ended. What we witnessed this evening was a sheer thriller between two teams that rose to the occasion and more. All will be decided in six days’ time in the Lombard capital.
