Three things we learned as Barcelona and Inter Milan play out thrilling 3-3 UCL draw | OneFootball

FC Barcelona played out a Champions League classic against Inter Milan in the first leg of the semi-finals at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The two teams went blow for blow throughout the night, and the tie eventually ended 3-3 with a second leg still to be played.

It was a game that Barcelona started on the back foot, with Inter ending up taking a 2-0 lead. The first goal came within the first minute of the game, and the Italian giants also managed to score their second goal of the night from a corner.

However, just like they have done throughout the season, Barcelona found a way to fight back against all the odds and managed to level the game before the 40th minute. Inter once again found the back of the net in the second half from a corner, but the Catalan club found a way to level proceedings again.

With all this in mind, we at Sempre Barca present three things we learned from Barcelona’s 3-3 draw against Inter Milan in the Champions League.

1: Lamine Yamal is a big game player

Minutes before kick-off, an injury could put Lamine Yamal’s participation in last night’s game in doubt, with the teenager seen holding his adductor as he made his way off the pitch during warm-up. However, thankfully, it proved to be a false alarm.

Injury or not, what Lamine did to Inter last night wasn’t normal. From the beginning of the game, Inter put both Di Marco and Bastoni to mark him, and yet, the duo could do absolutely nothing about stopping the Spaniard in the first half.

The teenager scored a wonder goal to halve Barcelona’s deficit and hit the bar minutes later after a sensational piece of skill. In the second half, Inter put three defenders on him and at times, even four, and the Spaniard still held his own against the lot.

There was one moment in the second half when he performed a 360-degree pirouette to get past his man, which made fans leap out of their seats. Lamine also attempted an audacious chip late in the game that yet again hit the bar and came out.

2: Barcelona came out sleeping

Hansi Flick would not have been happy with the way his team started the game against Inter, looking a few paces off it in the opening minutes of the game. It is not something that we have grown to associate with Barcelona this season.

Of course, the resilience they showed made it look good for the team, but Barcelona would be the first ones to hold their hands up and accept that they should have done better to prevent conceding the first two goals on the night.

Understandably, Barcelona might have been tired after that exhausting 120 minutes of football against Real Madrid on the weekend, but that is no excuse coming into the semifinals of the Champions League against a side like Inter.

Going forward, Barcelona have to do the difficult thing and go to San Siro with no lead to hold on to and secure a win against the Italian side. It is not easy, but don’t put it past Hansi Flick’s team to come up with a special away performance.

3: Just how good was Frenkie de Jong?

A number of Barcelona players had a good game against Inter Milan, but one player whose display would go under the radar is Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman did not put a foot wrong on the night and was a monster out of possession.

On the ball, Frenkie has always been a master with whatever he does, but off the ball is where the Dutchman’s game has gone up several notches. Last night, he dominated in duels and was a key reason for things going well for the Catalan side.

On a night when Pedri seemed to be tiring as the game went on, Frenkie stepped up to provide the control that the game needed. One doesn’t know what Hansi Flick did with the club captain, but he seems a transformed player now.

If Barcelona are to get past Inter Milan in the second leg, they will need Frenkie to be at his very best going forward. It bodes well for the club that he has solved a lot of problems this season, and let’s wait and see how it plays out.