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Lamine Yamal put in another performance that led to comparisons with greats of the game Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona - AP/Emilio Morenatti
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Barcelona fought back from 2-0 down against Inter Milan to take a 3-3 draw to Milan next week, after one of the most entertaining Champions League games in recent memory.
The Spaniards were spurred on by an inspired Lamine Yamal goal but Inter’s ruthless finishing kept the tie in the balance ahead of the second leg of this semi-final at San Siro.
It was billed as an old-fashioned clash of styles. Barcelona’s incorrigible teenagers throwing themselves forward with abandon vs a classic obstinate Italian defence, happy to surrender possession and imitate the great Jose Mourinho teams of the past.
So some surprise it was Inter who took the lead with barely 30 seconds played, Marcus Thuram concluding their first counter-attack with a superb back-heeled finish. It was the quickest goal ever scored in a Champions League semi-final and such an early concession was the last thing Barcelona wanted.
Things became worse 20 minutes later with another spectacular finish, Denzel Dumfries’ overhead kick after a corner doubling Inter’s lead. Pedri might have put his head in the way to make it a free kick for dangerous play, instead Inter were 2-0 up away from home. Barcelona should have been rocking but somehow the eye and the ball kept drifting towards Yamal.
There had been flashes, impudent jinks, dizzying footwork. Then there was a masterpiece. Yamal picked the ball up close to the right flank before spinning past Thuram, beating Henrikh Mkhitaryan and curling a wonderful shot past Alessandro Bastoni which pinged off the far post and in. A spectacular solo goal that immediately brought to mind some lofty comparisons from Barcelona’s past, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona.
From there it became one of those “text your friends” performances, with Yamal seemingly capable of beating opponents at will then finding the perfect shot or cross to terrorise Yann Sommer in the Italians’ goal. Federico Dimarco was as exposed as Maicon by Gareth Bale. Every time Yamal ran at his defender you feared for him. You feared for his family, his pets, his lucrative sponsorship deals.
Inter did their bit too, encouraged by Hansi Flick’s perilously high line reminiscent of Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs when they were still fun. Nicolo Barella channelled Yamal with one adventurous run through the middle of the pitch. But the force was with Barcelona and, with Inter perhaps sucked in by the Yamal show on one flank, their equaliser came down the other. Raphina nodded down a crossfield pass to tee up Ferran Torres for an unerring first-time finish to cap a fever dream of a first half.
Yamal was less impressive at the beginning of the second, giving the ball away three times and facing a rejuvenated Bastoni. This helped the game to assume its predicted pattern. A more sedate pace with Barcelona pinging the ball around Inter’s well-oiled machine which manoeuvred to close any gaps.
This suited Inter more than the freestyle first half and they held a potent threat on the counter. After a few warning shots Dumfries rose highest from a corner to restore their lead with his head. For all the glory of their forward line, Barcelona’s defending seemed like an afterthought.
But about that forward line… One minute and 55 seconds later, Raphina thundered a shot off the bar and in off Sommer’s back to make it 3-3.
More shoddy defending led to a low cross which evaded Barcelona’s entire backpedalling backline, Wojciech Szczesny failed to claim and Mkhitaryan steered it in. There was a semi-automated reprieve for the home side.
One final act of impudence from Lamal, clipping the bar with what looked like a cross. It is best not to make any assumptions about his intentions, or set him any limits. He flitted in and out of this game but still left its most lasting impression.
10:33 PM BST
Dumfries on his two goals
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Denzel Dumfries scoring Inter’s second goal - Getty Images/David Ramos
10:30 PM BST
Mkhitaryan on the game
10:26 PM BST
Mkhitaryan on his disallowed goal
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Mkhitaryan’s disallowed goal - TNT Sport
10:19 PM BST
Great entertainment
10:12 PM BST
World’s best player?
09:55 PM BST
FT: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Yamal with one last chance to skip through the Inter challenges but the Italians just about scramble the ball clear and that is that. A Champions League classic. Barcelona feel like the moral victors having fallen 2-0 behind early on, while Lamine Yamal and their attacking football dazzled thereafter. That said, they conceded three goals at home and an away draw in a semi-final first leg is always a good result so Inter have every chance of progressing. The one blow for them was the loss of Lautaro Martinez to injury, but they can hurt this Barcelona team.
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Denzel Dumfries scoring Inter’s third goal - Getty Images/Josep Lago
09:51 PM BST
92 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Darmian has made a couple of important clearances since coming of for Inter. Fermin tries to find Raphinha with a diagonal pass but overhits it and Inter have a goal kick.
09:50 PM BST
90 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
There will be just three minutes of added time to play. This game is an attack vs defence session now.
And Raphinha lets fly with another rasping strike from long range! Tipped over by Sommer. Inter have a corner to defend.
09:49 PM BST
89 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Barcelona are starting to turn the screw not and sustain pressure but Inter are defending their penalty box well and putting bodies on the line. Bisseck wins a header against Raphinha after Barcelona tried another diagonal to the back post. Augusto defends well up against Yamal in a one-on-one on the right.
09:47 PM BST
87 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
This is better from Inter, absorbing the pressure and closing off the passing avenues. More like what we expected from them pre-match.
Then Yamal hits the bar with a mis-hit cross! He has not been as influential in the second half, but that moment of fortune could have won the game.
09:44 PM BST
84 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Curbasi, on a yellow, has been hooked by Flick and replaced by Andreas Christensen, the former Chelsea defender. The pace of the game has relented a touch, but Barcelona are still pushing forward and probing with possession in the Inter half. Inter look like a team who will gladly take the 3-3.
09:40 PM BST
81 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Szczesny just about wins a race to a loose ball outside his penalty area in front of Dumfries after that Barcelona high was pierced once again. That was Dumfries last act of the game, with Thuram also coming off. Darmian and Zielinski are coming on. Thuram and Dumfries are both returning from muscular injuries.
09:38 PM BST
79 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
A nervy moment for Inter as Raphinha’s low free-kick creeps under the wall but Sommer’s handling was clean to avoid a dangerous rebound. The clock is ticking down now and Inter are getting closer to a highly creditable result.
09:36 PM BST
76 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Mkhitaryan thought he had given Inter the lead again after a sweeping low cross across the Barcelona penalty area but he was flagged offside. Replays suggest it was very tight, but after a check using the semi-automated offside system VAR upholds the on-pitch decision.
Moments later, Dumfries barrelled his way into the box but unwisely tried to pass when the shot was on.
09:34 PM BST
73 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Fermin Lopez has been lively since coming on before Inter’s defence stands firm to block Raphinha’s low cross. Inter have constructed some better moves in this second half, Taremi has made it stick and allowed runners to join.
09:31 PM BST
71 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Taremi holds the ball up well to win a foul, and then Mkhitaryan splits the Barcelona defence open with a through ball but Curbasi did well to recover and block Thuram’s shot. Barcelona’s backline is so square at times with no pressure on the ball.
09:27 PM BST
68 minutes: Barcelona 3 Inter 3
Inter’s lead lasted one minute and 53 seconds. Hansi Flick has made another change: Fermin Lopez replaces Dani Olmo. Lovely quick in midfield from Pedri to draw a foul from Barella.
09:26 PM BST
GOOOOALLLL! Raphinha with a screamer
The Inter lead did not last long. Barcelona won a corner which they took short, with Yamal dummying the ball at the edge of the box. It ran for Raphinha to strike from 25 yards with the ball rolling across his body, and his rasping strike crashed off the bar and off the back of Sommer. This will go down as an own goal. So unlucky for the goalkeeper, who actually got fingertips to the initial effort. But superb technique from Raphinha.
09:24 PM BST
GOOOOALLL! Barcelona undone at another corner
A meat and drink delivery into the box, Szczesny is floundering in his six-yard box and it was too easy for Denzel Dumfries to win his header. The ball took a nick off a Barcelona head beyond the goalkeeper, and for all pretty patterns weaved by the home team they trail again.
09:22 PM BST
63 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
For all of Barcelona’s pressure, when Inter get the chance to attack open space in transition they look so dangerous. Bisseck is galloping forward from defence, and his cross flicks off Araujo and behind for a corner with Szczesny stranded.
09:21 PM BST
60 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Aruajo has offered Barcelona more robustness against Inter’s long balls forward, which is helping the home team restart attacks. Yamal almost picks out Olmo with a cute pass into the box but Sommer clears.
Barella chases a pass knocked in behind the Barcelona defence and he screams for handball against Curbasi, but the referee gives nothing.
09:18 PM BST
58 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Barella did ever so well to volley clear of his own six-yard box after another outside of the foot cross from Yamal. Pedri is then fouled in midfield, at the expense of a yellow card for Calhanoglu.
09:17 PM BST
55 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Pedri with a snap-shot wide on the volley after a combination of Acerbi and Bastoni clear Yamal’s low cross. Inzaghi is making another change: Carlos replaces Dimarco. Rio Ferdinand one day he will tell his grandchildren about facing Yamal. Yamal might still be playing by the time Dimarco has grandchildren.
09:13 PM BST
53 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Barcelona with a spell of possession around the Inter box, but the Italian side are doing a better job of denying access into the penalty area with passes inside from Yamal and Raphinha. It means Barcelona are having to circulate the ball in front of Inter’s defensive shape from side to side.
09:10 PM BST
50 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Inter with a sweeping move forward down their right, with Bisseck appearing as a surprise runner from centre-half on the underlap. His low cross made its way through legs to Dimarco at the back post but he slashed his shot well over the bar. Barcelona’s defending continues to look questionable.
09:08 PM BST
48 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Yamal tries a scooped pass into the box and then overhits a pass intended for Raphinha. Early days in the second half, but the pace has been slower and the game bittier so far which suits Inter.
09:05 PM BST
We are back under way in the second half
Can Inter find any way of containing Lamine Yamal?
09:05 PM BST
Another change on the way for Barcelona
A second defensive alteration of the night with Araujo on for Gerard Martin.
And Lautaro Martinez has not made it out for the second half: Taremi replaces Inter’s star forward. Napoli fans will not be too disappointed to see Martinez limp off.
08:59 PM BST
That’s the company Raphinha is keeping
08:50 PM BST
HT: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
That was one of the best 45 minutes of the season. You have to pause to remind yourself that Inter are still in a decent position in the tie, because since going 2-0 up they have been drowning under incessant Barcelona pressure and Lamine Yamal has produced one of the most startling individual performances you will see. Barcelona are occasionally open, but they will surely score more goals if they keep this up.
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Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring Barcelona’s first goal - Reuters/Albert Gea
08:47 PM BST
44 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Lautaro Martinez looked to pull up after Cruyff-turning on the ball, and looks on the verge of tears. Surely another injury? Martinez does jog back onto the pitch after receiving some treatment, but it might be a case of making do until Inzaghi can assess the situation at half time.
08:44 PM BST
42 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Kounde’s race is indeed run, which means Barcelona are now missing three of their first-choice back four. Attack looks the best form of defence for them. Eric Garcia replaces Kounde.
08:42 PM BST
40 minutes: Barcelona 2 Inter 2
Bastoni is one of the best defenders in the world but he has really struggled, and Yamal closes him down and blocks off a pass. A worry now for Barcelona is that Kounde is down with what looks like a muscular problem.
08:40 PM BST
GOOOOALL! Ferran Torres grabs the equaliser
That goal has been coming, Barcelona have been looking for that diagonal cross to the back post all night. This time Pedri floats the ball over the head of Bisseck for Raphinha, who headed the ball back across goal. Ferran Torres was clear of Acerbi and had the simplest of finishes to score from five yards.
08:38 PM BST
36 minutes: Barcelona 1 Inter 2
This time Yamal’s cross is floated into the gloves of Sommer. Inter finding it harder and harder to make headway up the pitch, and they give the ball away in their own half. Yamal tees up Olmo for a shot from the edge of the box, and Sommer pushes the ball wide of the post.
08:36 PM BST
33 minutes: Barcelona 1 Inter 2
Barella with a driving run through midfield, but then he stubbed his foot in the turf. I think he was looking to chip Szczesny from just over the halfway line judging by the attempted technique. Barella had Lautaro in support.
At the other end, Yamal flashes another curling cross through the six-yard box. The 17-year-old is unplayable at the moment and one of those crosses should have been converted.
08:32 PM BST
30 minutes: Barcelona 1 Inter 2
Olmo shoots straight at Sommer after turning his way through the middle of Acerbi and Bastoni. That was weak defending, and Inter’s lead now feels very fragile.
Yamal then feeds another really dangerous ball across the box, and Sommer palms clear to prevent Raphinha or Ferran scoring a tap in. One-way traffic at the moment.
08:29 PM BST
27 minutes: Barcelona 1 Inter 2
Yamal very nearly repeats the trick and levels the game! He sat down Dimarco with another slalom through the penalty area and tried to beat Sommer from a tight angle. It was actually a telling touch from the Inter goalkeeper to push the ball onto the bar. Inter need to navigate their way to half time from here.
08:27 PM BST
GOOOAALLL! Yamal with one of the goals of the season in the Champions League
The only way to describe that is Messi-like. At one point Yamal had his back to goal near the touchline but he found a way to turn and then dance through the attention of four or five Inter defenders before curling a shot off the far post from just inside the box. A moment of inspiration drags Barcelona back into it.
08:25 PM BST
23 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 2
Yamal tries another of those outside of the foot passes but it flicks off Bastoni and through to Sommer. Barcelona have the firepower to win this leg from here, never mind the tie, but worries about their glass jaw already look well-founded.
08:23 PM BST
GOOOOAAALLL! Dumfries makes it two
Barcelona are not the biggest team and they have been caught out at a set-piece. Dimarco stood up the corner for Acerbi to head towards goal and there was Dumfries in the six-yard box to score with an acrobatic scissor kick. What a position Inter are in now. Could Barcelona have been braver and put their head in the way of Dumfries’ foot and drawn a foul?
08:22 PM BST
20 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
Torres with another shot just wide of the far post, the swerve from the outside of his right foot took the ball wide. The Inter take a throw-in quickly to try to release Dimarco down the left and Curbasi comes across to defend at the expense of a corner.
08:20 PM BST
17 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
Barcelona wanted a free-kick around 30 yards out for a foul by Barella on Pedri, and they have a case. The Italian arrived late and looked to trip Pedri but the referee was unmoved. Mkhitaryan was viewed as something of a luxury player earlier in his career, but Inzaghi has him doing shuttle runs across the pitch to help Dimarco against Yamal. The Barcelona winger has just won a corner.
08:17 PM BST
14 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
You would show a healthy profit if you earned £1 for every time Yamal uses the outside of his left foot in a match. A bit like former Barcelona player Rivaldo, he is hilariously one-footed, but I suppose it is a price worth paying for his left being so good.
Raphinha whips a free-kick into the box, but Sommer does well to punch clear under pressure. A sound start from the Inter goalkeeper and the three centre-backs in front of him.
08:14 PM BST
12 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
Szczesny punches a cross clear before Lautaro is flagged offside when he tried to flick a follow up effort towards goal.
Danger at the other end, with Yamal picking out Ferran Torres with a pass into the box, but his first touch was clumsy before shooting wide of the post.
08:12 PM BST
10 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
Inzaghi has picked Dumfries to target Barcelona’s left-back Martin who looks vulnerable. Bastoni defends expertly in the box against Yamal, steeping across the winger and holding him off. Speculative appeals for a penalty from the home crowd. Thuram’s goal was the fastest ever in a Champions League semi-final.
08:10 PM BST
7 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
Barcelona hogging possession since conceding, but Sommer claims a cross comfortably before Bisseck does well to carry the ball out of defence and win a foul. The pitch looks it has been heavily watered with the ball holding up on a couple of ocassions on Barcelona’s right flank.
08:06 PM BST
3 minutes: Barcelona 0 Inter 1
The pattern of the game was fairly predictable before kick off: Barcelona possession and Inter looking to counter, but that might be even more pronounced now. As Barcelona seek an immediate reply, Yamal teases an inswinging cross to the back post which was not far away from Raphinha.
08:04 PM BST
GOOOAALLL! What a goal from Thuram, what a start from Inter
Within 20 seconds, Martinez has released Dumfries down the right behind Barcelona’s high line and his cross is half-cleared by Kounde. He gets a second bite of the cherry, and Thuram meets the delivery with a delightful backheel beyond Szczesny. Brilliant finish, not unlike a goal Kanu scored at Middlesbrough way back when if you know your Premier League Years. Inter expose Barcelona’s defence early.
08:02 PM BST
KICK OFF!
Inter get the first leg of this Champions League semi-final under way.
07:59 PM BST
The players are out at Barcelona’s Olympic Stadium
Loud whistles over the Champions League anthem. A tifo displays the five European Cups won by Barcelona: 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. Their young team are going for European Cup number six, which would draw them level with Liverpool.
07:56 PM BST
A slight scare for Barcelona...
Lamine Yamal went back down the tunnel before the rest of his team-mates and looked to be holding his groin after some conversations with a physio. No changes to the starting XI though, so Barcelona’s right-winger looks fit to start.
07:37 PM BST
Lamine Yamal makes his 100th Barcelona appearance tonight
He is still just 17 and has four goals and three assists alreay in the Champions League this season.
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Lamine Yamal in the warm up - Getty Images/Carl Recine
07:21 PM BST
Inzaghi on Inter’s mini-slump
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Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi on the touchline during the defeat against Roma - Reuters/Massimo Pinca
07:15 PM BST
This is Barcelona’s first Champions League semi-final since 2019
That was the tie in which they blew a three-goal lead against Liverpool at Anfield and fell asleep from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner. For a club of Barcelona’s stature, that is a significant absence from the latter stages of the Champions League with mismanagement from the top as much to blame as anything else.
07:11 PM BST
Hansi Flick on Barcelona being spurred on by their Copa del Rey victory
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Hansi Flick after Barcelona’s cup final win against Real Madrid - Getty Images/Anadolu
06:53 PM BST
Barcelona team news: Olmo starts rather than Fermin Lopez
06:52 PM BST
Inter team news: Dumfries and Thuram return, Bisseck preferred to De Vrij
I nostri 11️#ForzaInter#UCL#BarcellonaInterpic.twitter.com/bFeiCNhqn0
— Inter(@Inter) April 30, 2025
06:45 PM BST
Raphinha’s journey from Leeds to Ballon d’Or front-runner
With 27 goals and 16 assists across La Liga and Champions League games this season, the Brazilian winger has elevated his game to another level after an underwhelming start to life in Catalonia. In this piece, Mike McGrath looks at Raphinha’s decision to leave French club Rennes and move to Yorkshire in 2020 and how Marcelo Bielsa discovered him.
06:40 PM BST
Barcelona fans gather outside the Olympic Stadium
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Barcelona fans let off flares outside the stadium - Reuters/Albert Gea
06:35 PM BST
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06:30 PM BST
Just like 2010, Barcelona vs Inter remains a clash of styles
No Icelandic volcano eruption to contend with this week but when Barcelona face Inter in a Champions League semi-final memories abound of their 2010 epic which concluded with a jubilant Jose Mourinho being sprayed by the Nou Camp’s sprinkler system.
Then as now, there is a pleasing clash of styles on offer with Hansi Flick’s cavalier Barcelona one of Europe’s most fearsome attacks and Simone Inzaghi’s Inter one of the continent’s more robust defences.
The Italian side conceded just one goal in the eight-match league phase, but have suffered a dip in form at just the wrong time in the season. Inter were beaten by city rivals Milan in the Coppa Italia and have lost consecutive league games 1-0 against Bologna and Roma to hand Napoli a three-point advantage in the title race. There is now the prospect of finishing the season trophyless.
Inter have been without forward Marcus Thuram through injury in those games, but hope to have the France international back this evening. Inzaghi will also have to do without Benjamin Pavard, who scored the tie’s winning goal against Bayern Munich in the quarters, leaving a choice between Stefan de Vrij and Yann Aurel Bisseck on the right of their back three.
Barcelona are missing Robert Lewandowski but goals have not been an issue for a team who have scored 89 in 33 La Liga games and 37 in 12 in the Champions League. That’s an average of 2.85 goals per game. Ferran Torres has operated in the centre-forward role but Raphinha and Lamine Yamal are a devastating pair of wingers, while Dani Olmo has a happy habit of popping up between the cracks in defences with vital goals. In Pedri, Barcelona might just have the most in-form central midfielder in the world, although PSG’s Vitinha might have something to say about that.
That said, Barcelona conceded around five expected goals across both games against Borussia Dortmund in the quarters, so can be vulnerable if their high defensive pressure is bypassed. Inter will defend in their usual 5-3-2 shape and then look to break at pace through Thuram and Lautaro Martinez and the wing-backs.
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