Madrid, May 1 (UNI) Lamine Yamal led FC Barcelona's fightback in a thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Inter Milan in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
The match leaves the tie wide open, with Barca content it was able to fight back from 2-0 and 3-2 down, while Inter will think it is the favorite in the return leg against a rival that suffered a key loss in defense.
Barca fans had a moment of worry before kick-off, when Yamal looked to have pulled a thigh muscle during the warm-up, but fears were allayed when he stepped onto the pitch as a starter.
Inter quickly raced into a 2-0 lead, with Marcus Thuram flicking the Italians ahead in the first minute, and Denzel Dumfries doubled the visitor's lead in the 21st minute with a spectacular overhead kick after the ball was knocked over the back of the Barca defense.
The home side initially struggled to break down the Inter defense, but Yamal dragged Barca back into the match with a stunning individual goal in the 24th minute, stepping inside and curling in a shot at the far post.
He smashed the ball against the woodwork just three minutes later, again leaving Inter left-back Federico Dimarco hapless as Barca upped the pressure, with goalkeeper Yann Sommer increasingly called into action.
Ferran Torres equalized in the 38th minute when he scored from close range after Raphinha nodded Pedri's cross across goal.
The bad news from the first half were injuries for Barcelona right-back Jules Kounde and Inter forward Lautaro Martinez, while Ronald Araujo replaced Gerard Martin at halftime with Inigo Martinez moving across to left-back.
Inter looked to control the ball more in the second half to stop the waves of the Barcelona attacks, and the Italian side retook the lead in the 64th minute when Dumfries headed home from a corner.
Inter's lead was again short-lived when Sommer tipped Raphinha's thunderbolt onto the bar, but with the misfortune that it bounced down and into the net off his back.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan had the ball in the Barca net, only to have it ruled out for the tightest of offsides, before Dumfries wasted another chance by passing when he would have been better shooting. Yamal then hit the woodwork for a second time.
The return leg will be held on May 6.
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