Barcelona 3-3 Inter: Denzel Dumfries double helps visitors to thrilling draw

Barcelona came from 0-2 and 2-3 down to earn an epic 3-3 draw in a Champions League classic at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, ensuring the teams head to Milan next Tuesday on level terms.

Match in brief: Barcelona roar back after flying Inter start

Having sat out Inter's previous three games due to injury, the returning Marcus Thuram wasted no time in reminding the away fans why he was so missed, audaciously flicking Denzel Dumfries' cross beyond Wojciech Szczęsny after just 30 seconds for the fastest goal in a Champions League semi-final.

Marcus Thuram's opener was the fastest goal in Champions League semi-final historyGetty Images

Barcelona responded positively, Ferran Torres twice shooting narrowly wide, but Inter doubled their lead in the 21st minute. Federico Dimarco curled in an outswinging corner from the left which was met by the towering jump of Francesco Acerbi, before Dumfries, provider of the first goal, converted powerfully with an acrobatic scissor-kick.

Denzel Dumfries added an acrobatic second for Inter against BarcelonaGetty Images

It looked an uphill battle for Barcelona with Inter’s defensive fortitude well known, but the hosts were level by half-time thanks to some inspired attacking play.

Making his 100th appearance for the club in all competitions, Lamine Yamal kick-started the turnaround with an exquisite solo goal, darting into the box from the right wing and curling a pinpoint finish into the far corner.

Lamine Yamal marked a milestone appearance with a superb goalGetty Images

Yamal continued to shine and Barcelona continued to threaten, Yann Sommer denying the 17-year-old a similarly sublime second as he danced past Dimarco and fired a powerful shot goalward.

A low Dani Olmo drive was pushed away by the Inter goalkeeper minutes later, but Sommer was beaten again on 38 minutes as Ferran Torres finished off a sweeping team move, running onto Raphinha’s header from Pedri's precise curling cross.

Ferran Torres celebrates the Barcelona secondUEFA via Getty Images

A more controlled start to the second half followed, but the tempo was ramped up once more when Dumfries connected with Hakan Çalhanoğlu's corner to restore Inter's lead in the 64th minute.

Barcelona responded from a corner of their own a minute later, the ball making its way out to Raphinha for a sizzling long-range strike which hit the crossbar before bouncing in off Sommer.

Inter appeared to have taken the lead again when Henrikh Mkhitaryan converted in the 75th minute but an offside flag means this tie heads to Milan with the scores level.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Denzel Dumfries (Inter)

"Defensively solid and very decisive in attack. He provided a great assist for the opening strike and scored two great goals himself – a great achievement in a contest like this. His stamina and speed created a lot of problems for Barcelona."
UEFA Technical Observer Group

Denzel Dumfries with his Player of the Match awardUEFA via Getty Images

Graham Hunter, match reporter

This will become the night when just over 50,000 lucky souls will say forever: 'I was there!' The 70 years of this competition have produced gem after gem, but when you see a contest of magnificence, of deeply-contrasting styles, where the goals overflowed, you just sit back and appreciate it.

Reaction 

Hansi Flick, Barcelona coach: "We didn’t start well, but we got right back into the match. The second half was spectacular. There’s one leg of this tie left and we have to win it. I think this qualifies for that description of the 'final before the final!'"

Simone Inzaghi, Inter coach: "We saw a fantastic match and we knew that semi-finals are difficult. We could even have won. I really liked the impact that our subs had tonight. Our fans know that we’ve been giving our utmost in difficult times and we know that Tuesday will be a 'final.'"

Raphinha, Barcelona forward, to Movistar: “At 2-0 down we simply stayed calm and began the fight to overcome the deficit. We began to play ‘our game’ and to impose our plan. Maybe we took too many risks overall but we wanted a positive result and our obligation was to try and build a win from this first leg.”

Yann Sommer, Inter goalkeeper, to DAZN: “We need to analyse the scenes where they scored the goals. We just have to find a way to relieve the pressure. In the first half, we had a bit more trouble in build-up and had few options between the lines. That was better in the second half.”

Pau Cubarsí, Barcelona defender: "It was our mentality which ensured we drew instead of losing this. There’s a lot for us to improve because it needed too little from them to get at us and do damage. We’ll go to their stadium and try to beat them."

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Inter midfielder, to TNT Sports: "It was a crazy game. It was a great game to watch but very hard to play in. We were leading for so long in the first half – it's not that we thought we had the game won; Barcelona put lots of pressure on us. They were very good with the ball."

Simone Inzaghi (left) and Hansi Flick instruct their teamsGetty Images

Key stats

• Marcus Thuram's 30th-second opener was the fastest goal in a Champions League semi-final .
• Aged 17 years 291 days Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to score in a Champions League semi-final, beating the previous record of Kylian Mbappé, who scored for Monaco against Juventus aged 18 years 140 days in 2017.
• Barcelona won their first five home matches against Inter but have now drawn the last two, both 3-3.
• Inter have lost only one of their 13 Champions League matches this season (W9 D3) and are unbeaten in seven (W5 D2).
• Denzel Dumfries is the first Inter player to score more than one goal in a Champions League knockout match since Diego Milito struck twice in the 2010 final.

Fantasy star performers

Denzel Dumfries: 19 points
Raphinha: 8 points
Ferran Torres: 7 points
Lamine Yamal: 7 points

Line-ups

Barcelona: Szczęsny; Koundé (Eric García 42), Cubarsí (Christensen 83), Iñigo Martínez, Gerard Martín (Ronald Araújo 46); De Jong, Pedri (Gavi 83); Olmo (Fermín López 68); Yamal, Ferran Torres, Raphinha

Inter: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries (Darmian 81), Barella, Çalhanoğlu (Frattesi 71), Mkhitaryan, Dimarco (Augusto 56); Lautaro Martínez (Taremi 46), Thuram (Zieliński 81)