Barcelona drew 3-3 with Inter Milan in a supremely entertaining first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday, April 30.
It was a home match for the Catalan giants and they will have to travel to the San Siro next week to play the second leg.
Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres scored for Barcelona, while Inter’s goalkeeper Yan Sommer scored an own goal while trying to save a scorching shot from Raphinha.
For the Italian club, Marcus Thuram scored with an outrageously good touch and right-back Denzel Dumfries scored a brace.
Barcelona Were Inspired by Lamine Yamal
Quite expectedly, Barcelona were inspired by the performance of the prodigious 17-year-old right-winger.
He was constantly facing double-marking, with Federico Dimarco and Henrikh Mkhitaryan trying to close him down.
Inter’s three-man defence often became a five-man one, with the wing-backs dropping back to make the defence wide.
Inter stayed deep for the most part and went into counter-attacks by playing the ball to the wide areas inside the Barcelona half. As a result, it became a battle between Barca’s attack and Inter’s defence.
Yamal often used the outside of his left foot to play passes into the Inter penalty box. However, on a few odd occasions, he managed to cut through the Inter defence to get into the box.
Barcelona’s first goal came through such an attack, as Yamal got into the box and finished with a curling left-footer that hit the post before going in.
It was his 22nd goal for the club in his 100th match for them, as the attacks kept flowing through him.
Barcelona then stopped being predictable and started playing crosses into the opposition penalty box more often instead of always depending on Yamal to break through.
Barca’s second goal came from one such cross played by the tireless Pedri, who completed a plethora of passes in the midfield throughout the match.
Raphinha headed the ball down for Ferran Torres to score.
However, prior to that, Inter had taken a 2-0 lead within the initial 25 minutes to stun the home side.
The second half saw the Italian side take the lead once again, only for Barca to equalize yet again.
Barca displayed brilliant football throughout, but Inter got the key goals to escape with a draw.
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The Second Leg Should Be Tough for Barca
It will not be easy to travel to San Siro and grind out a win against a resilient Inter Milan. Hansi Flick will know that too well and should manage his resources accordingly in the La Liga match this weekend.
Both Barca and Inter are in contention to win their domestic league titles as well. Barca are leading the La Liga table, while Inter are second in the Serie A one.
It will be interesting to see how they cope with the matches over the weekend.
Simone Inzaghi has taken Inter to a Champions League final before and lost to Manchester City in the final.
He will therefore be eager to put that disappointment behind him and win the European crown with the Nerazzurri.
The Blaugrana will also want to win the coveted treble this year, having won the Cope Del Rey already. However, going to Milan and winning the match will be a litmus test for them.
Can Flick win his second Champions League title as a manager this season?
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Pressinphoto
Recording Date: 01.05.2025