Barcelona twice fought back from behind to secure a pulsating 3-3 draw against Inter Milan in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night. The result leaves the tie perfectly balanced ahead of the return leg in Italy next week.
Inter Milan made a stunning start, scoring the fastest goal in Champions League semi-final history after just 30 seconds. Marcus Thuram cleverly back-heeled the ball into the net following a swift attack. The Italian side doubled their lead in the 21st minute when Denzel Dumfries scored with an acrobatic volley from a corner.
Barcelona, despite missing injured striker Robert Lewandowski, were sparked into life by 17-year-old Lamine Yamal. On his 100th appearance for the club, Yamal became the youngest scorer in a Champions League semi-final with a brilliant individual goal in the 24th minute, cutting in from the right and curling a shot into the far corner.
Yamal hit the post soon after, before Ferran Torres leveled the scores at 2-2 in the 38th minute, finishing first-time after Raphinha knocked the ball down.
The high-octane action continued after the break. Dumfries restored Inter’s lead with his second goal of the night, heading home from another corner in the 64th minute.
However, Barcelona responded almost immediately. Raphinha’s powerful shot from outside the box struck the woodwork and rebounded into the net off the back of unfortunate Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer for an own goal, making it 3-3 just moments later.
Both teams suffered injury blows, with Barcelona losing defender Jules Koundé in the first half, while Inter saw striker Lautaro Martínez (hamstring) fail to reappear for the second half and defender Benjamin Pavard also forced off (ankle).
Inter’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan had a late goal disallowed for a marginal offside by VAR, and the effervescent Yamal struck the frame of the goal again with a late chip.
“When you play at home like we did, the sensation is that we should have managed to earn a better result,” Barcelona’s Raphinha admitted. “We can’t concede that many goals, especially at home… But the result is not that bad and it leaves it all open for the return leg.”
Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni added: “The match was beautiful and entertaining… We are happy with the result… Now it’s back to 0-0 again and whoever wins goes to the final so let’s do it.”
The thrilling draw sets up a mouth-watering second leg at the San Siro next Tuesday, May 6th. The aggregate winner will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain (PSG lead 1-0) in the final in Munich on May 31st.
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