Last week, a Champions League classic unfurled in Barcelona to leave this tie finely poised, the hosts fighting back to draw after trailing 2-0 and 3-2. Much of that was thanks to an inspired performance from Lamine Yamal, now the youngest goal scorer in Champions League semifinal history.
Before the 17-year-old, it was Marcus Thuram scoring a record-breaking goal, his audacious flick after 30 seconds the fastest-ever goal in a Champions League semifinal. The outstanding Denzel Dumfries struck twice from set pieces, the first to double Inter’s lead and the second to restore it following Yamal and Ferran Torres’ rebuttals before Raphinha’s sizzling shot made its way in off the crossbar and the back of Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer, tying the scores ahead of Tuesday’s meeting in Milan.
As revealed by Frenkie de Jong, Barça will be focusing on amending their set-piece shortcomings ahead of the decider. Inter, meanwhile, is drawing up plans to better contain Yamal, though Simone Inzaghi is the first to acknowledge quite how difficult that task is, the Inter coach describing the young winger as “the kind of talent that comes along every 50 years”.
Many of Inzaghi’s men will have their eyes on Champions League final redemption, nine of their match-day squad appearing in their 2023 loss to Manchester City, while Barça are aiming for a first showpiece since their 2015 triumph.
Speaking on the game, Inter Milan Coach, Simone Inzaghi, said: “We know the importance of this match. We’ll need a great game against a very strong team, which we’ve seen now upfront first-hand. We’ll need an attentive and clear-headed Inter. The group believes in themselves, they want it and they are waiting eagerly for this match.”
Defender Alessandro Bastoni echoes his coach’s sentiments: “We’d seen a lot of videos of Barcelona but playing against them is another thing. We made several mistakes in our passes that led to goal opportunities. We can improve a lot, we’ll learn from the first leg. We’re potentially two games away from winning the Champions League, and we’ll give it our all.”
To Barcelona Coach, Hansi Flick, the game will be a thriller as both teams need to attack to win. “(In the second leg) Inter can’t just defend. They have to try and score too. It’s the semifinals of the Champions League and the four best teams in Europe are there. We play with style and confidence, and we know what we can do. We have 90 minutes next week, and hopefully, that’s enough to get to the final. That’s our goal, and we will fight for it.”
