Barcelona and Inter Milan draw 3-3 in thrilling first leg of their Champions League semifinal
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona and Inter Milan delivered a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.
The game featured gorgeous goals from both sides and sets up a must-see sequel next week in Milan.
Marcus Thuram was a doubt for the starting 11 after missing Inter’s previous three matches — all losses without a goal. But the striker used the back of his heel to turn in a cross by Denzel Dumfries to stun the hosts just seconds after kickoff.
Dumfries scored his first of two goals with a bicycle kick to double Inter’s lead in the 21st.
Lamine Yamal sparked Barcelona into action in the 24th when he dribbled past two defenders and sliced a shot in off the far post. He went close to an equalizer moments later after gliding down the endline and firing a shot with just a sliver off an angle off the crossbar.
Ferran Torres rammed in a headed pass by Raphinha to equalize for Barcelona in the 38th.
Inter suffered another blow when Lautaro Martínez had to be substituted at halftime, but Dumfries charged in to head home a corner kick to put Inter back ahead in the 63rd.
Raphinha needed two minutes to pull Barcelona level again when his blistering shot from outside the top of the box struck the crossbar, ricocheted off the back of goalkeeper Yann Sommer and found the net.
The winner will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31. PSG beat Arsenal 1-0 in London on Tuesday in their first match.
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