Inter Milan, Barcelona Endure Thrilling Heavyweight Battle: Takeaways From Champions League Semifinals | OneFootball

Barcelona and Inter Milan put on an absolute show in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals, drawing 3–3 and leaving it all to play for in the return leg in a week's time.

The Nerazzurri struck early with two goals from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries in the opening 20 minutes, taking advantage of Barcelona's defensive weaknesses. Barcelona woke up thanks to a wonderful goal from Lamine Yamal and then managed to level the scoring through Ferran Torres before halftime.

Both teams continued to trade punches out of the tunnel. Dumfries secured his brace from a corner kick and a minute later, Raphinha fired a shot from distance that hit the post, deflected off Yann Sommer and dropped into the goal to bring the Catalans level once again.

The tie is still wide open heading into the second leg, with both teams disappointed not to have the advantage while still feeling like they have what it takes to advance to the Champions League final.

Here are some takeaways from the first leg of the Champions League semifinals between Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Take a Bow, Lamine Yamal

Has there ever been a player this good, this young? It's getting harder and harder to say yes.

When the semifinals seemed to be getting out of hand for Barcelona, it was the 17-year-old Yamal who stepped up and put Barça on his back to spark the comeback. His goal is simply Lionel Messi-esque, floating past defenders and then opening his foot to tuck the ball into the far corner.

Before the match, Yamal stole the headlines thanks to his confident—some would say arrogant—quotes aimed at Real Madrid during his pre-match press conference. But perhaps a quote that went under the radar was his affirmation that he has no fear. "Fear? I left fear that in the park in Mataró a while back." His performance a day later vs. the best defense in the Champions League season made that abundantly clear.

Yamal is already one of the best players in the world while being the age of a high-school senior. However, for the past year, he's made a habit of making the biggest, most tense games in world soccer resemble friendly matches in the school playground.

Inter Milan Are Barcelona's Kryptonite

What many Barcelona fans feared before the start of the tie was confirmed during the opening 20 minutes of the first leg: Inter Milan are a team perfectly designed to beat Barça.

Simone Inzaghi's men have powerful and pacy attackers that can exploit Barcelona's high-defensive line. Thuram started and then finished the move that led to Inter's opener, taking advantage of Barça's aggressive defensive style.

Barcelona have struggled to break down low-blocks all season and there's perhaps no better low-block in the world than Inter's. Sure, the Catalans eventually found a way to climb back into the game, but it took moments of magic from Yamal, Pedri and Raphinha to do so.

Without Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona don't have an aerial presence to offer that wrinkle in attack and, they also lost a good aerial defender in set pieces. Inter exploited the Polish striker's absence to score their second and third goals of the match from corner kicks, with Dani Olmo man-marking Dumfries.

The tie is still wide open, but with the San Siro crowd pushing Inter forward in the second leg, Inzaghi's men have all the tools they need to reach the Champions League final.

Key Injuries Could Be The Difference in the Second Leg

The toll of the long European season is starting to show, as both teams suffered injury blows to key players during the first leg.

Lautaro Martínez for Inter Milan and Jules Koundé for Barcelona were forced to leave the game with apparent muscular injuries late in the first half. Time will tell how serious the injuries are, but these are two integral pieces for both teams. Martínez is Inter's leading goalscorer in the Champions League with eight goals while Koundé has appeared in 88 out of Barcelona's last 89 games since Nov. 2023.

If they aren't fit to play the second leg, then both Hansi Flick and Inzaghi will be forced to find alternatives, though, none will offer as much to their team's as the two first leg injury casualties.

Elsewhere, Barcelona will hope Lewandowski and Alejandro Balde are able to recover for the second leg, or they'll join Inter's Benjamin Pavard in the list of confirmed key absences.