Barcelona front-three break Messi, Suarez & Neymar goalscoring record | OneFootball

It feels like Barcelona have almost stumbled onto the most prolific front three the club has ever seen in the Champions League this season.

Robert Lewandowski is almost 37, an age at which even Lionel Messi has slowed down. Lamine Yamal is not even 18, doing things that no one thought possible from one so young. Meanwhile, the club tried their hardest to replace Raphinha last summer with a very public pursuit of Nico Williams.

Between them, however, the trio has powered Barcelona to within touching distance of only a second La Liga title in six seasons. Their Champions League journey ended on Tuesday night at the semi-final stage, just a late collapse away from getting into a first final in a decade.

When the Catalans were last crowned European champions in 2014/15, Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, affectionately dubbed 'MSN' and considered legends for their collective achievements that season, scored 27 in the competition – ten each for Messi and Neymar, seven for Suarez.

Following two legs of this season’s semi-final against Inter, the Lewandowski (11), Yamal (five), Raphinha (13) trio finished with 29, surpassing MSN. Raphinha, who has emerged as a Ballon d'Or contender because of the surprisingly huge numbers he has put up across all competitions is the joint-top Champions Leaguer scorer this season – alongside Borussia Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy.

Lionesl Messi, Luis Suarez & Neymar are one of world football's best ever attacking trios / Matthias Hangst/GettyImages

But that goalscoring record for the front three will ultimately come as scant consolation.

Barcelona had a place in the Champions League final in their sights, leading 3-2 on the night at San Siro, and 6-5 on aggregate, with only three minutes plus stoppage time left to play.

Having trailed 2-0 in the first leg at home and fighting back to 3-3, Hansi Flick’'s side again fell two goals behind in Milan. But three second-half goals without further Inter reply from Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo and Raphinha looked like it would be enough to set up a final date against either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal at Munich's Allianz Arena on Saturday 31 May.

Yet Francesco Acerbi levelled the score, both on the night and on aggregate, in stoppage time, before Davide Frattesi put Inter ahead for good nine minutes into extra-time.

Inter will now contest a second Champions League final in three seasons after losing narrowly against Manchester City two years ago. But Barcelona's wait extends into an 11th year.