In an epic match from start to finish, things will head to Italy level 3-3 after a draw between Barcelona and Inter at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Marcus Thuram showed his importance to Inter, returning to the XI for the first time and scoring the fastest goal ever in a UCL semifinal with his strike 30 seconds into the match. But 17-year-old Lamine Yamal also showed why there are no words left to describe his brilliance, scoring an excellent solo goal on his 100th appearance for Barcelona. He almost added another, hitting the post late in the match, but Barcelona succumbed to Inter’s strength from set plays in the draw.
Denzel Dumfries was able to net a brace from corner kicks as this game turned into a track meet that no one wanted to end. It could lead to quite a second leg of action between these two teams in Milan, but before we get to that, it’s a good chance to take a look back at how both teams did in the match.
Let’s get to player ratings:
Barcelona player ratings
| Wojciech Szczesny | 90 | Caught in no-man’s land while Inter profited off of corner kicks, it was a match to forget for Barcelona’s keeper. He’ll need to improve if Barcelona have a chance to come back in Italy. | 5 |
| Gerard Martin | 45 | Withdrawn after the first half of play in a tactical decision. Like for Jules Kounde, it was a rough match for the outside back. | 5 |
| Inigo Martinez | 90 | Had a better day than some of the other Barcelona defenders, but when you concede three goals, that doesn’t matter too much. | 6 |
| Pau Cubarsi | 83 | Like his partner in central defense, Cubarsi didn’t have a great day, but Barcelona were able to tighten things up in the second half of play to help secure a draw. | 6 |
| Jules Kounde | 42 | Beaten badly for Marcus Thuram’s opening goal, then picking up an injury, it was a match to forget for Kounde. | 5 |
| Frenkie de Jong | 90 | Created some chances and did a good job ticking possession over with Pedri, but defense is a team game and almost everyone not in attack has to be dinged for that. | 6 |
| Pedri | 83 | As usual, a great job at keeping Barcelona’s attack moving forward. There wasn’t much eye-popping from Pedri in the match but with excellence in front of him, he just had to keep it simple. | 6 |
| Dani Olmo | 68 | Unlucky not to score during the match, Olmo floated into spaces when Inter focused too much on Barcelona’s wings and kept Yann Sommer honest in net. | 7 |
| Raphinha | 90 | With an assist and his goal turned into an own goal after crashing off the bar into Sommer, it was another excellent performance from Raphinha. If Barcelona are going to win this, the Brazilian will need to keep this going. | 8 |
| Ferran Torress | 90 | Without Robert Lewandowski, Torres was able to lead the line and find the back of the net. Filling arguably the biggest position for Barcelona on the pitch, he did plenty to keep the attack moving forward. | 8 |
| Lamine Yamal | 90 | How is he still only 17? From his runs to his vision and ability to shoot from anywhere, there isn’t much that Yamal can’t do on a soccer pitch, and his excellence was on display Tuesday with his goal and every step that he took. | 9 |
| Eric Garcia | Jules Kounde | There wasn’t anything flashy from Garcia, but that’s fine as he was great on the ball, keeping Barcelona moving forward when being abruptly called into action. | 6 |
| Ronald Araujo | Gerard Martin | Brought a much-needed steadiness at the back. There’s an argument that Araujo should’ve started this match, and with his performance off the bench, Flick will have decisions to make in the second leg. | 6 |
| Fermin Lopez | Dani Olmo | Kept the attack moving forward and tested Sommer in the net. For a sub, that’s plenty fine. | 6 |
| Andreas Christensen | Pau Cubarsi | With Cubarsi on a yellow, Hansi Flick wasn’t taking any chances, and that led to fresh legs in the match. | N/A |
| Gavi | Pedri | Came on to close out the game and didn’t have much time to make an impact, but he kept Barcelona moving forward. | N/A |
| Hansi Flick | 5 | Barcelona could’ve easily rolled over after going behind by two goals, but they did a great job in rallying to keep things in order. Barcelona will need to work on their set play defense, but it’s still a solid performance, all things considered. | 6 |
Inter player ratings
| Yann Sommer | 90 | Sommer has been excellent during this UCL campaign, but this was a match to forget. Barcelona pelted him with shots, but scoring three goals from an xG of 1.39 comes with some goalkeeping errors. Then add in an own goal for a cherry on top. | 4 |
| Alessandro Bastoni | 90 | Not the best match for the Italian. He wasn’t able to win his individual duels, giving Barcelona extra chances for shots in the box. While a lot of those came from low percentage areas, when a team has the finishers that Barcelona does, everything is dangerous. | 6 |
| Francesco Acerbi | 90 | Grabbed a defender-to-defender assist coming off of a set piece and was sound in his positioning, clearing chances before Barcelona could turn them into more goals. | 7 |
| Yann Bisseck | 90 | Filling in for Benjamin Pavard, Bisseck struggled to keep up with Barcelona’s attackers. This is something that isn’t unusual for most defenders, but it was magnified with the nature of the game. | 5 |
| Federico Dimarco | 56 | Returning from injury, Dimarco was able to help push Inter forward but expended a lot of energy trying to keep up with Yamal. | 5 |
| Henrikh Mkhitaryan | 90 | Unlucky not to score, it was almost a very different match for Mkhitaryan. He wasn’t great defensively, but his creativity helped make things happen. | 6 |
| Hakan Calhanoglu | 71 | Inter used Calhanoglu’s excellent set piece delivery to great effect, and without it, they may not have a chance in this tie. They’ll take that but will also hope that he can avoid picking up a yellow in the second leg. | 7 |
| Nicolo Barella | 90 | A quiet match by Barella’s standards. He wasn’t able to set the tempo in midfield, but that was hard to do with Barcelona dominating possession. | 6 |
| Denzel Dumfries | 81 | Excellent both on set pieces and from open play, two goals and an assist from a right back is excellent production. | 9 |
| Marcus Thuram | 81 | Less than a minute into the match, Thuram showed Inter what they were missing in the clash. His movement and touch on the ball are excellent, and if Inter want to win, they’ll need more from him. | 8 |
| Lautaro Martinez | 45 | In a first half that included four goals, the Argentine wasn’t able to get involved much before picking up a back injury at the close of the half. Not what Inter had in mind in this massive fixture. | 5 |
| Matteo Darmian | Denzel Dumfries | Came on as fresh legs and didn’t have a ton to do outside of trying to defend and prevent Barcelona from scoring another goal. | N/A |
| Carlos Agusto | Federico Dimarco | Created a few chances and was okay defensively, but Barcelona’s wings are quite a tough assignment. | 6 |
| Davide Frattesi | Hakan Calhanoglu | Didn’t get on the ball much as Barcelona was basically playing keep away by the end of the match. | 6 |
| Pitor Zielinski | Marcus Thuram | Came on as fresh legs and didn’t have a ton to do outside of trying to defend and prevent Barcelona from scoring another goal. | N/A |
| Mehdi Taremi | Lautaro Martinez | Came into the match and barely touched the ball. It was a massive loss in the attack, losing Thuram and if he can’t go in the second leg, it will be quite a worry. | |
| Simone Inzaghi | 5 | Given injury issues and going away to Barcelona, Inzaghi’s men scoring three goals is an excellent output when they’ve been held scoreless in their last three matches. The issue is that they also conceded three which needs to be cleaned up. | 7 |