Fifteen years after these two sides met in a Champions League knockout match, albiet with different squads and Jose Mourinho’s Inter upsetting Pep Guardiola’s Barca – the two European giants served up another pulsating and end to end semi-final.
Barcelona came from behind twice against Inter Milan to snatch a draw in a six-goal first-leg thriller to leave their Champions League semi-final hanging in the balance.
Inter rattled the hosts after just 30 seconds when Marcus Thuram turned in Denzel Dumfries’ cross with an audacious backheel to score the fastest goal in the semi final of the competition’s history.
Dutch full-back Dumfries doubled the visitors’ lead with a stunning overhead kick 20 minutes later and it looked like Barca had a mountain to climb at their home turf.
However, the magical starlet, Lamine Yamal stamped his presence to transform the game and give Barca hope of reaching in final for the first time since 2015.
He struck a wonderful curler in the 24th-minutea drifting inside and evading the challenges of several defenders before unleashing a spectacular left-foot effort that went in off the far post.
Yamal was at the heart of everything Barca did, also hitting the woodwork twice, but marked his 100th appearance for the club with a 22nd goal to add to his 33 assists at the age of just 17.
Ferran Torres capped off an end to end first half with a 38th-minute equaliser for the hosts, poking home from close range after Raphinha headed down Pedri’s crossfield pass.
But the impressive Dumfries scored his second of the night in the 63rd minute to restore Inter’s lead when he rose highest to meet Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner.
Two minutes later, Barca again responded in style and levelled when a stunning 25-yard strike from Raphinha rattled the bar, bounced down and into the net, via a touch off Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s back.
The entertaining clash leaves the tie in the balance, with the second leg on Tuesday at the San Siro in Milan.