Three talking points from Barcelona 3-3 Inter Milan | OneFootball

Barcelona locked horns with Inter Milan in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal last night and the game was a joy to behold.

Inter Milan began the game more spirited than ever, and despite losing their last three games, they scored in just the first minute of the game to take the lead. Denzel Dumfries then netted Inter’s second and doubled the advantage.

Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres helped Barcelona pull back the deficit, but Inter lunged forward and scored a third goal to take the lead once more in Catalonia. Eventually, Raphinha scored a banger to level the tie at 3-3 and leave it open heading into the second leg.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points from Barcelona 3-3 Inter Milan.

The defensive miscalculation

Hansi Flick named Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi as his starting defenders against Inter Milan last night, proving that he feared none when deploying the high defensive line.

In less than 60 seconds, however, the Italians opened the scoring and hit back with a reply that they were well-oiled to take down the offside trap.

It is not that Barcelona’s offside trap did not work last night, for the Nerazzurri often found it difficult to play through. At the same time, however, they also showed elite knowledge of how the manoeuvre past the hurdle and had their fair share of chances.

A large part of the Italian side’s dominance can be attributed to their superior physicality and movement, something which demanded Ronald Araujo’s transitional stability to hold off.

The ship thus steadied in the second half after he was brought on, but the decision to start him on the bench in itself was a miscalculation by Flick.

The transition aspect aside, there was a second area in which Inter Milan completely dominated Barcelona last night – set pieces. Two of the team’s three goals came from corner kicks and the hosts struggled in defending any form of set-piece.

Needless to say, Flick must work on a better defensive structure and superior tactics to combat set-pieces ahead of the second leg.

Lamine Yamal pulls the strings

Magician. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Barcelona have barely ever fallen behind by two goals this season, and Inter Milan’s second goal in the first half last night cast worry over their ability to come back under the pressure.

Staring at a two-goal deficit, the Catalans had the odds against them and seemed to be struggling to get past Inter’s well-drilled low defensive line.

Of all the players on the field, it was the 17-year-old Lamine Yamal who surprisingly stepped up and took the pressure of spearheading the comeback. He may have been the youngest on the field but played like the most mature of them all.

In the 24th minute, he pulled off something almost dreamy and too good to be true. With Barcelona’s backs against the wall. He picked up the ball outside the box, dribbled past defenders and magically sent it into the back of the net to bring Barcelona to within one.

As the game proceeded, he only grew in importance as seemingly every Barcelona attack flowed through him. His dribbles, crosses and progressions were significantly more incisive than any other Barcelona attacker and the gap in quality was evident.

It is amazing how Yamal does it week in and week out against the best teams in the world. His performance last night was fitting of a champion and he rightfully became the youngest-ever goalscorer in a UCL semifinal.

An open tie

As Flick rightly pointed out in his post-match press conference, Barcelona’s situation in the UCL semifinal after one leg is very similar to their situation in the Copa del Rey against Atletico Madrid.

The Catalans looked vulnerable at the back against Los Rojiblancos at the time and managed a 4-4 draw after 90 minutes at the Montjuic. They then were forced to start from scratch against them in the second leg away from home and went on to secure a narrow 1-0 win.

90 minutes into the game against Inter Milan, they are once again without any advantage. Fortunately, however, they are also without any disadvantage and the game must begin from scratch next week.

Inter Milan may have a slight edge given the home support, but Barcelona was the more dominant side last night and have proven to have better attacking prospects. If Flick can fix up the defence, they will more than back themselves to get through.

At this point, the game is as open as it can be. A lot will come down to the teams’ form at San Siro, but it is safe to say that the game is fitting of a Champions League semifinal.