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, 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…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Denzel Dumfries
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 . "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.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: 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…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Simone Inzaghi
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.
AFPWINNER: Yann Sommer
Beppe Marotta really is the master of the transfer market. In the summer of 2022, he picked up Andre Onana on a free transfer from Ajax. The following year, he sold him to Manchester United for £47 million ($57m). Even better, Marotta paid just €6m (£5.1m/$6.5m) for Onana's replacement, Sommer, who has proven the most incredible upgrade on the Old Trafford flop.
The Swiss was by no means flawless against Barcelona. Perfectionist that he is, Sommer will no doubt be disappointed with the way in which he parried Raphinha's late strike right back to the Brazilian, rather than pushing it away to safety. But it's fair to say that the ex-Bayern Munich man more than made amends for his one mistake.
Having already made one extraordinary point-black range save to deny Eric Garcia an equaliser during the second half of normal time, Sommer produced an even better effort in extra time to keep out Yamal's goal-bound shott with his fingertips.
There wasn't a person in the ground that thought the teenager's strike was going to end up anywhere but the top corner of the Inter net, so when the ball flew wide it drew an audible gasp of disbelief from Beppe Bergomi on before the Inter icon roared: "He saved it! Sommer saved it!"
It really was a special stop. And absolutely crucial too. Indeed, it immediately evoked memories of Julio Cesar's equally important save from Messi at Camp Nou when Inter last faced Barca in a Champions League semi-final all the way back in 2010.
