Barcelona 3-3 Inter: Champions League semi-final, first leg – as it happened

written by TheFeedWired

1d ago 17.39 EDT Frenkie de Jong gives the Barca view to TNT. “It was a nice game to play … both teams really want to go to the final … both teams played their heart out … it’s half time, it’s still a draw, so let’s see next week … we knew it was going to be hard and difficult … it was a bad start from us … we knew we could make the comeback … we like to play attacking football, to dominate the game, score goals … of course we take some risks but we also get a lot of reward from it so I think we will keep playing like this … hopefully it will get us to the final … we feel we have the team that can do something special … we will go for it!” Share 1d ago 17.26 EDT Inter’s Denzel Dumfries, who has been named man of the match by Uefa, talks to TNT. “Crazy game in the end … both teams fought for the win … 3-3 is a deserved result … we are now looking forward to the next match … they are a very good team but we also have a lot of quality.” He’s also told that he’s the first Dutch player to score and assist in a Champions League semi-final since Wesley Sneijder for eventual champions Inter in 2010.

“That is a nice statistic … I’m very proud of the performance.” View image in fullscreen Denzel Dumfries of Inter takes a selfie with the Player Of The Match award. Photograph: Álex Caparrós/Uefa/Getty Images Share Updated at 17.30 EDT 1d ago 17.15 EDT Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan talks to TNT Sports. “It was a crazy game … a great game to watch but not to play … it was very hard … we did our best … we could have done even better … we were leading 2-0 with 20 minutes gone, but it was not that we thought we’d won the game already … Barca put loads of pressure on us … unfortunately we couldn’t keep the 3-2 … but this is football … I feel very gutted [that his second-half goal was disallowed] … maybe it was two or three centimetres … but this is football … my will was too much that I wanted to score … maybe I rushed … maybe I have to score in the second leg, let’s see!

… Barcelona are very young and talented … we are going to do our best … it is not going to be easy because we have lost our captain and leader Lautaro Martínez … we will do our best to replace him and play without him.” Share 1d ago 17.03 EDT At the end of a game that’s put the 2010 semi-final meeting between these clubs into perspective, Lamine Yamal is awarded a shirt with the number 100 on it. He may only be 17 years old, but that’s already his century of appearances for Barcelona! And how he marked the occasion, twisting in from the right to score a solo stunner in the style of Archie Gemmill in power-up mode.

That changed the momentum of a match which saw Inter fly out of the blocks, Marcus Thuram scoring the fastest semi-final goal in Champions League history, and Denzil Dumfries making it 0-2 with an overhead kick. After Yamal’s art piece, Ferran Torres and Dumfries went on to trade further goals, before Raphinha made it 3-3 with a lashing drive off both crossbar and the back of the unfortunate Yann Sommer. It could have finished 7-3, 3-7 or anything in between, and it’s all got to happen again in Milan in six days time.

Can’t wait. View image in fullscreen Wonder how many more of those shirts that Lamine Yamal get over his career. Photograph: Michael Regan/Uefa/Getty Images Share Updated at 17.09 EDT 1d ago 16.52 EDT FULL TIME: Barcelona 3-3 Inter Counting down the days until San Siro next Tuesday already.

Share 1d ago 16.52 EDT 90 min +2: … a brief game of Head Tennis breaks out, but Inter are never in danger. Lopez eventually hoicks a poor cross from the left out for a goal kick. Share 1d ago 16.51 EDT 90 min +1: Raphinha advances down the inside left and sends a speculative riser towards the top right.

Sommer tips over spectacularly. No unlucky rebound off the bar and his back this time. But here comes a corner, from which … Share 1d ago 16.50 EDT 90 min: There will be three additional minutes.

Can’t we have 33? A third half? Share 1d ago 16.49 EDT 89 min: It’s attack versus defence again.

Yamal nearly finds Lopez with a clever chip down the middle, but Darmian’s telescopic leg hooks clear. Share 1d ago 16.47 EDT 87 min: Torres advances on the Inter box and feeds Yamal to his right. The pass isn’t the best, and gets between Yamal’s feet, but the young genius somehow manages to dig it out and wedges an effort over Sommer and off the crossbar!

He’d been quiet for a while. Too quiet. Share 1d ago 16.45 EDT 85 min: Barca probe.

Inter sit tight. Raphinha curls in from the left, hoping to find the head of Garcia. But Garcia clanks into Augusto, who goes down and wins a free kick.

He doesn’t rush to get back up. Eventually he does. Share 1d ago 16.42 EDT 83 min: Barcelona respond with a double swap of their own.

Gavi and Christensen come on for Cubarsí and Pedri. Share 1d ago 16.42 EDT 81 min: Inter make a double change with a view to taking the heat out of this wonderfully preposterous match. Thuram and the magnificent Dumfries make way for Zieliński and Darmian.

Share 1d ago 16.40 EDT 79 min: Yamal stands on the ball and spins away from Thuram with absurd ease. He nearly manages to release Raphinha down the left with an outside-of-boot diagonal pass, but it’s intercepted. Then Inter try to send Dumfries clear down the right, but Szczęsny races out of his box to blooter clear.

Share 1d ago 16.38 EDT 78 min: Yamal jigs in from the right and draws a foul from Mkhitaryan (who was only offside back there by the length of an uncut toenail). From the resulting free kick, Raphinha whistles a low curler towards the bottom left, but Sommer is behind it all the way. This game is gloriously nuts.

Share 1d ago 16.37 EDT 76 min: … and now Dumfries one-twos with Frattesi down the right and into the Barca box. He has the opportunity to shoot from ten yards but opts for the cutback. Wrong choice.

Share 1d ago 16.36 EDT 75 min: Inter have the ball in the net again! Dumfries is sent bombing down the right by Bisseck. He crosses low and long for Mkhitaryan, who races in from the left and slams home with his first touch!

But he’s an inch offside. View image in fullscreen Inter's Henrikh Mkhitaryan thwacks the ball past Barcelona's keeper Wojciech Szczesny and in to the net but he’s thwarted by the offside flag. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters Share Updated at 16.47 EDT 1d ago 16.34 EDT 74 min: Until Inter scored their third, this match was attack versus defence.

Now it’s an end-to-end basketball-infused affair. Now it’s Barca’s turn to attack, Lopez with the chance of releasing Raphinha into the box down the left, only to overcook the pass. Both teams fancy this.

Share 1d ago 16.32 EDT 72 min: Anything could happen here. Thuram blazes down the middle and for a second looks to have burst clear of Cubarsi, but the Barca defender does well to make up some ground and block the eventual shot with an extended leg. Share 1d ago 16.31 EDT 71 min: Sixty seconds of hot administrative action, as Cubarsi is booked for a tug on Taremi, then Çalhanoğlu makes way for Frattesi.

Share 1d ago 16.30 EDT 70 min: Thuram carelessly gifts the ball to Lopez on the edge of the Inter box. Lopez dribbles a shot straight at Sommer, and Thuram breathes again. That was a decent chance.

Share 1d ago 16.28 EDT 68 min: Olmo is replaced by Fermín López. Share 1d ago 16.27 EDT 67 min: One minute and 53 seconds passed between those two goals. This is one of the great semis.

And there’s still a quarter of it left! Share 1d ago 16.26 EDT GOAL! Barcelona 3-3 Inter (Sommer og 65) The corner’s pulled back.

Yamal leaves it for Raphinha, who creams a first-time riser towards the top right. The ball caroms off the underside of the bar, then off the back of the keeper and in. What terrible luck for the keeper, who touched that onto the bar, but that was all Raphinha’s work.

What a strike! View image in fullscreen Barcelona’s Raphinha lets fly from distance. Photograph: Joan Monfort/AP View image in fullscreen The ball comes back off the woodwork and hits Inter’s keeper Yann Sommer on the bonce and goes into the net for Barcelona’s equaliser.

Photograph: Lluís Gené/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Inter’s Francesco Acerbi looks dejected. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters View image in fullscreen Whilst Raphinha and his Barca teammates celebrate. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters Share Updated at 17.29 EDT 1d ago 16.25 EDT 64 min: Can Barca respond again?

Well, Raphinha wins a corner down the left, and from that … Share 1d ago 16.24 EDT GOAL! Barcelona 2-3 Inter (Dumfries 63) The corner’s hit long from the right. Dumfries rises above Olmo at the far stick and plants a header into the top left.

Easy as that! View image in fullscreen Denzel Dumfries (centre) scores his second, and Inter’s third. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Images Share Updated at 16.31 EDT 1d ago 16.23 EDT 62 min: This is better from Inter, as Thuram sends Dumfries into space down the right.

Dumfries looks to hook into the middle, but his low cross is deflected out by Araújo. Inter claim a penalty, preposterously, as it hit the defender’s leg. But it doesn’t matter, because … Share 1d ago 16.22 EDT 61 min: Inter are reduced to repeatedly hacking the ball upfield to nobody in particular.

Cubarsi stupidly gives them an out by jumping all over the back of Thuram. From the resulting free kick, a long pass down the middle appears to be handled by Martínez. Barella claims a free kick but there’s nothing doing.

Share 1d ago 16.19 EDT 59 min: Çalhanoğlu receives the first caution of the evening, clattering through the back of Pedri, who had diddled him with a drop of the shoulder and was off into space. Share 1d ago 16.17 EDT 58 min: Yamal exchanges cute passes with Olmo down the inside-right channel, then attempts to surprise Sommer with a cheeky toe-poke towards the bottom right from distance. Sommer reads his opponent well, and gathers.

Share 1d ago 16.15 EDT 56 min: … so Inter make a change, swapping Dimarco for Augusto, who now has the responsibility of keeping Yamal quiet. Good luck and godspeed, sir. Share 1d ago 16.14 EDT 55 min: Yamal dribbles down the right.

His cross is half cleared. Pedri sends a low pearler wide right. It’s all Barca.

Share 1d ago 16.14 EDT 54 min: Barca stay patient. Inter aren’t seeing much of the ball and they can’t get out of their final third. View image in fullscreen Inter coach Simone Inzaghi (right) urges on his team.

Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters Share Updated at 16.20 EDT 1d ago 16.12 EDT 52 min: Barca pin Inter back. Yamal probes down the right. Martinez crosses low from the left.

The visitors hack clear. Barca start again. This could be the pattern of the second half, right here.

Share 1d ago 16.11 EDT 50 min: Bisseck pulls a low cross back from the right. Dimarco, romping in from the left, sends a rising shot over the bar. It might have grazed the top of the frame, but the ball was going so fast, it’s hard to say for sure.

View image in fullscreen Inter's Federico Dimarco fires off a shot before Barcelona's Eric Garcia can block. Photograph: Albert Gea/Reuters Share Updated at 16.18 EDT 1d ago 16.09 EDT 49 min: Yamal has the opportunity to release Raphinha down the left, but overcooks the pass. Nobody’s perfect.

Meanwhile Scott Blair writes: “I make no claim to be a well-informed observer of the fitba’ but I’m 61 and largely enjoy it as an entertaining diversion rather than following a particular team. (I like to see Scotland do well, if that provides perspective.) Accordingly I’ve seen a lot of goals over the years.

I genuinely don’t think I’ve seen anyone do that before.” Scott’s teasing us about Archie Gemmill, isn’t he, readers. Share 1d ago 16.06 EDT 47 min: A free kick for Inter, just left of centre, 40 yards out. Barella scoops a diagonal ball towards Thuram, who is easily beaten to it by Szczęsny on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box.

No super-fast start to the half for Inter this time. Share 1d ago 16.04 EDT Barcelona get the second half started. As expected, Inter have been forced into a change, their injured captain Lautaro Martínez making way for Mehdi Taremi.

Barca meanwhile have swapped out Gerard Martín for Ronald Araújo. Share 1d ago 15.50 EDT HALF TIME: Barcelona 2-2 Inter The fastest-ever goal in a Champions League semi. A spectacular overhead kick.

An exquisitely cushioned assist. Lamine Yamal. Lamine Yamal.

Lamine Yamal. That … that was football. Share Updated at 15.56 EDT 1d ago 15.47 EDT 45 min: There will be two additional first-half minutes.

Can we not have 22, please? Share 1d ago 15.47 EDT 44 min: Martínez suddenly pulls up. He wants to come off, but Simone Inzaghi screams at his captain to continue.

Martinez hobbles around, but stays on for now. Share 1d ago 15.45 EDT 43 min: Raphinha tries to score with a sidefoot into the bottom left from 25 yards. It’s blocked out for a corner, and from the set piece, Lamal nearly successfully one-twos his way down the right channel and into a shooting position.

He’s crowded out just in time. Share 1d ago 15.43 EDT 42 min: Kounde can’t continue, and Eric García comes on in his stead. Share 1d ago 15.42 EDT 40 min: Kounde goes down holding his left leg.

On comes the trainer. The only way the ferocious pace of this game could be halted. Share 1d ago 15.40 EDT GOAL!

Barcelona 2-2 Inter (Torres 38) Yeah, they’ve responded well all right. Pedri, in space down the inside-right channel, crosses long towards Raphinha, who cushions a header back across goal and into the path of Torres, who gets in ahead of Acerbi and can’t miss from six yards. Barca are level!

That was so simple yet so perfectly executed. Inter ripped apart with ease. View image in fullscreen A leaping Ferran Torres shoots … Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP View image in fullscreen And puts the home side back on level terms.

Photograph: Joan Monfort/AP View image in fullscreen Then celebrates. Photograph: Carl Recine/Getty Images Share Updated at 15.56 EDT 1d ago 15.39 EDT 37 min: … from which nothing comes. But this is gloriously relentless.

Barca have responded so well to the toxic shock of going two goals down at home, in short order, in a European semi-final. Against an Italian team. Share 1d ago 15.38 EDT 36 min: Yamal wins the ball in the middle of the park with a crunching tackle on Bastoni.

This lad can do it all. Barca break and Olmo aims for the bottom right. Sonner turns around the post for a corner … Share 1d ago 15.37 EDT 34 min: Yamal again down the right.

Another cross. Dimarco sent to the shops for the Mundo Deportivo this time. Sonner slaps away, just in time, with Raphinha lurking.

This is getting old. Share

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