Barcelona vs Inter Milan LIVE: Raphinha strike sets up Champions League second leg after Denzel Dumfries brace
Barcelona 3-3 Inter Milan: A cracker in Barcelona leaves both teams on the brink of reaching the final
Barcelona and Inter Milan have it all to play for after a thrilling and fascinating first leg clash ended in a 3-3 draw in Spain.
The visitors, tipped as underdogs ahead of kick off, shocked Hansi Flick’s men with barely a minute on the clock as Marcus Thuram backheeled the opening goal past Wojciech Szszesny to silence the crowd. Barcelona then found themselves near the brink of despair as Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s lead later in the first half.
Yet, the hosts turned up the tempo with thanks to an inspired Lamine Yamal. The teenager cut in from the right and scored a superb goal to bring the LaLiga leaders back into the match and Ferran Torres equalised just before the break.
A rapid and scintillating match continued after the restart with Dumfries heading in his second of the night, and Inter’s third, before a blistering strike from Raphinha brought the match level again and sets up the second leg perfectly.
Relive the action from the semi-final first leg with our live blog below:
Barcelona's historic record
Barcelona and Inter have faced each other on 16 previous occasions in Europe, with the Spanish side winning exactly half of those (W8 D5 L3).
They are winless in the most recent two, however, which came in the group stages of the 2022-23 Champions League (0-1 away, 3-3 at home).
How old-school Inter defied convention to punch above their weight in the Champions League
Expect to see the images of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, of Thiago Motta being sent off in the Nou Camp and Internazionale’s 10 men defending, playing without the ball, knocking out one of the greatest teams ever.
The 2010 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona remains seminal.
But not merely because of the stylistic contrasts or the meeting of the managers who were allies turned enemies and opposites.
How old-school Inter defied convention to punch above their weight
Inter Milan line-up to face Barcelona
Inter XI: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglou, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Thuram
Barcelona line-up to face Inter Milan
Barcelona XI: Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Martin; De Jong, Pedri; Olmo; Yamal, Torres, Raphinha
'It's not going to easy'
Henrikh Mkhitaryan previewed tonight’s match saying: “It's not going to be easy, because they have a very young and talented squad, with a few very experienced players.
“It's going to be very interesting, because semi-finals and finals are always great to play and to watch, so we hope that we can play our best and play a great two games, first and second leg, and try to reach the final.”
Pedri on Hansi Flick
Barcelona midfielder Pedri spoke about what it is like to play for Hansi Flick and how the manager has imposed his style on the team.
Pedri said: “It is a young squad and he is a father in the way that he always tries to look after us. He is there for you if you’re not playing. He always tries to help you and, asides from being strict – which he is and which you can see from outside – the side of him that you don’t see from outside is that he always tries to help you when you’re playing badly.
“It was hard to adapt [to the high line], especially when I was watching it from the outside during pre-season and they were implementing it.
“But from the very start, I think the team has done it really well and when it works, and you see that something is going well with the coach’s idea, I think it gives you much more confidence.”
Inzaghi on Barcelona
Simone Inzaghi also explained how he thinks Barcelona will play tonight saying: "Barcelona are a team that have been built very well over time.
“They have everything needed to play a great game, and Hansi Flick is providing great organisation, just as he did with Bayern and Germany.
“We must also congratulate them for the work they do with the youth sector. These great talents are growing.
“Lamine Yamal is a unique talent in the world, he makes great individual plays but is also very useful to the team."
Simone Inzaghi says Inter aren't in 'difficult moment'
The Inter coach was asked about his team’s recent run of defeats and said: "We are in the Champions League semi-finals, so I wouldn't call this a difficult moment.
“We are all excited, we are challenging one of the best teams in the world and one of the most offensive teams.
“We will have to suffer at times and will have to be technically perfect."
PSG’s 20-minute masterclass exposed Arsenal’s fatal weakness
The demand from Mikel Arteta is now obvious, but the manner Arsenal get there is not.
He said his team need “something special” after this 1-0 home defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. There was then the same caveat as after Real Madrid. “It’s only half-time.” Luis Enrique went further, insisting this tie “has only started”.
That should make it even less of a surprise that both managers described this as a game “of different phases”.
PSG’s 20-minute masterclass exposed Arsenal’s fatal weakness
'These things happen'
Martinez also addressed Inter Milan’s recent run of defeats saying: "These things can happen, and we have done a very positive job except for the last week.
“We've lost three games in a row, which hasn't happened for a long time.
“This hurts but the team are fine and the group is strong, it is united. That is key."
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