Barcelona and Inter Milan served up a Champions League thriller on Wednesday night, April 30, with the two teams playing out a 3-3 draw in the first leg of their semi-final at the former ‘s temporary Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
The Camp Nou has been undergoing remodeling and renovation.
The fastest-ever semi-final goal in the Champions League was scored by Marcus Thuram just 30 seconds into the contest, and Inter then doubled their lead in the 21st minute through Denzel Dumfries.
The response from Barcelona was impressive, though, with Lamine Yamal becoming the youngest-ever goalscorer in a Champions League semi-final with a wonderful solo effort, before Ferran Torres converted from close range to make it a 2-2 game at the interval.
Raphinha’s clever assist for Torres made it 20 goal contributions in a Champions League season for Barcelona, with the Brazilian moving past the legendary Lionel Messi’s record in the process.
Inter were back ahead in the 64th minute through Dumfries, as he scored for the second time on the night, but Barcelona hit their third in the 65th minute when Raphinha’s wonderful strike rattled the crossbar before the ball struck Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer and ended up in the back of the net, and that proved to be the final piece of major action in Catalonia.
And breathe. What a match. An all-time classic in the Champions League.
The less said about some of the defending, the better, but this was a magical match that produced so many outstanding moments, with Inter more than holding their own against a super-talented Barcelona outfit.
Yamal was glorious, with the 17-year-old demonstrating once again that he is one of the finest players in world football, while Raphinha also put in a special performance in the final third of the field.
Inter deserve huge credit for their own contribution, with the Italian outfit making the most of some poor defending from Barcelona, and it could be more of the same in the second leg next week, as the La Liga giants take so many chances from a defensive point of view.
Even when Inter went 2-0 ahead, Barcelona were more than in the match, and it was not a surprise that they hit back so quickly, with Inter not having a chance to breathe before conceding a third.
Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal will certainly believe that they can get at both of these sides, but there was a lot of attacking talent on display in this semi-final, particularly from Barcelona, who have a potential all-time great on their hands in Yamal.
