The Blaugrana were seconds from advancing to the final at San Siro, only to come undone in one of the most dramatic European games ever Mode...
The Blaugrana were seconds from advancing to the final at San Siro, only to come undone in one of the most dramatic European games ever
Modern football can be tough going at times. A nauseating combination of financial inequality, ever-expanding tournaments, farcical fixture lists, spiralling TV subscription fees, conspiracy theorists, endless VAR-related delays, relentless time-wasting, incessant simulation, blatant sports-washing and embarrassingly ineffective attempts to rid the sport of racism are sucking nearly all of the joy out of the game. But not at all of it.
Below, GOAL brings you all of the winners from Inter's football-affirming 4-3 victory over Barcelona in the second leg of the greatest semi-final tie in Champions League history...
Is the Ballon d'Or dream over for Barcelona's superstars? Winners and losers as gutting Champions League exit hits Lamine Yamal and Raphinha's Golden Ball hopes hard while Inter show the world why they belong among Europe's elite
Winners & Losers
Champions League
Barcelona
Inter
L. Yamal
Raphinha
FEATURES
Inter vs Barcelona
S. Inzaghi
H. Flick
F. Acerbi
D. Dumfries
L. Martinez
Y. Sommer
The Blaugrana were seconds from advancing to the final at San Siro, only to come undone in one of the most dramatic European games ever
Modern football can be tough going at times. A nauseating combination of financial inequality, ever-expanding tournaments, farcical fixture lists, spiralling TV subscription fees, conspiracy theorists, endless VAR-related delays, relentless time-wasting, incessant simulation, blatant sports-washing and embarrassingly ineffective attempts to rid the sport of racism are sucking nearly all of the joy out of the game. But not at all of it.
Because sometimes there's a game that makes all of the misery worthwhile. Sometimes there's a game that reminds you why you fell in love with football in the first place. Sometimes there's a game that you just never want to end. On Tuesday at San Siro, we got to witness such a game.
Below, are all of the winners from Inter's football-affirming 4-3 victory over Barcelona in the second leg of the greatest semi-final tie in Champions League history...
Simone Inzaghi hails 'extraordinary' Inter Milan, as Barcelona's Hansi Flick suggests referee bias in dramatic Champions League clash
Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri, Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram, Nicolo Barella... There were so many world-class performers involved in this semi-final for the ages. So, how on earth did Denzel Dumfries end up being the star of the show?!
Remember, the Dutchman had only just made his return from injury as a substitute in Inter's loss to Roma four days before the first leg - and yet he proved a one-man wrecking ball in Catalunya, creating the opening goal for Thuram inside 60 seconds before scoring a stunning scissors-kick and then a towering header.
In Milan, meanwhile, he sprung Barca's offside trap to tee up Lautaro for a tap-in before somehow summoning up the energy for one more foray down the right flank to pull the ball back for Acerbi to draw Inter level in the third minute of injury time. Perhaps even more remarkably, Dumfries continued battling for a further 18 minutes in extra time before finally succumbing to exhaustion.
"I've just come back from injury, so it was not easy," the wing-back admitted to Amazon Prime. "But I just wanted to help the team." Dumfries did more than that, though. He propelled his team into the final - and became an Inter icon in the process.
LOSER: Raphinha & Yamal's Ballon d'Or bids
Like it or not, the race for this year's Ballon d'Or has become a much-discussed subplot during the Champions League semi-finals, with plenty of pundits championing Yamal's cause after his extraordinary performance against Inter at Montjuic.
The teenager was a constant threat on Tuesday, too - he completed a staggering 14 dribbles at San Siro - but could find no way past Yann Sommer this time around, while he only created one chance in 120 minutes.Raphinha, meanwhile, scored what looked like the winner, but was otherwise subdued.
Barcelona's elimination means that the path is now clear for Ousmane Dembele to boost his Ballon d'Or bid by leading Paris Saint-Germain past Arsenal at Parc des Princes on Wednesday, after netting the only goal of last week's first leg at the Emirates.
Of course, were the Gunners to progress, Mohamed Salah's name might even be brought back into the conversation, given his record-breaking exploits in the Premier League would give him an outside shot of victory if he were going up against rivals without a Champions League medal around their necks.
Much, then, will depend on whether Dembele's PSG reach the final, but let's not overlook the fact that Inter have just booked their ticket to Munich, meaning their talismanic captain Lautaro suddenly has a surprise shot at lifting the European Cup - and maybe the Ballon d'Or too.
There should be no underestimating the scale of the crisis Simone Inzaghi was facing going into last week's first leg at Montjuic. For the first time in 13 years, Inter had lost three games in a row in all competitions without scoring a single goal, resulting in them being replaced at the summit of Serie A by Napoli and dumped out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals AC Milan.
Few pundits gave them any chance of beating a brilliant Barcelona side over two legs - especially with Thuram and Dumfries having only just returned from injury, and several key men looking utterly exhausted. However, Inzaghi somehow managed to summon two extraordinary performances out of his over-stretched and over-matched squad.
Inter inevitably struggled to contain the Lionel Messi-like Yamal for long periods of the tie, but they never capitulated in the face of almost relentless pressure - and, far more importantly, figured out a way to repeatedly breach Barca's high line.
For both feats, Inzaghi and his players deserve the kind of gushing praise that the 2023 finalists have been inexplicably denied for far too long.
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