After 12 goals over two legs, Inter and Barcelona could not be parted — which is more than could be said for their respective backlines.
Not that anyone was complaining about the prospect of another 30 minutes of football here at the San Siro. Barcelona were relieved to get there after a first-half collapse. Inter, likewise, after a second-half surrender.
For six days, the Italians stressed and strategised as to a formula to beat Lamine Yamal. Do that, they calculated, and you beat Barcelona. Somehow, they managed to force the genius back into the bottle and, by half-time, were 2-0 up after goals from Lautaro Martinez and a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty.
But in keeping Yamal relatively quiet — he was still very good — the hosts forgot about his team-mates. It is all very well having a defence for the right hook, but when the heavyweight has a left jab, upper-cut and footwork like this city’s pickpockets, you are still going down.
The Spaniards responded to their disastrous first half and turned the spotlight on Inter’s frailties to lead 3-2 entering stoppage-time.
Then, another twist, and another goal. With less than 90 seconds to play, Inter defender Francesco Acerbi, playing as a makeshift striker, hooked into the roof of the net from close range.
The San Siro erupted. In truth, the lava had been flowing, twisting and turning for the best part of two hours.
If there was a prize for ‘best turned out’, the San Siro would take the garland for its pre-match invasion of your senses. The Champions League anthem was relegated to a backing track as a thunderous choir of 75,000 tenors became an opera of defiant pride.
There were shiny foils for all and a sea of black and blue flags. This cathedral was illuminated not by candles, but the flares that burned and perfumed the night air. All of a sudden, the San Siro’s concrete mass did not seem so concrete after all, the stone beneath your feet trembling in anticipation of what was to come.
I was at the Emirates last week when Arsenal attempted to intimidate Paris Saint- Germain by dropping a giant flag of a cannon from the roof of one stand. They shot themselves in the foot as it was flimsy and unimaginative. This, by contrast, was an inspirational welcome for Inter’s warriors but, more so, it felt like a warning for Barcelona. It was a declaration — no inch of turf would be conceded without a fight.
The visitors, meanwhile, were willing to give up several inches. Make that yards, in fact, and lots of them, each in behind their own defence. You could have laid one of Inter’s sprawling tifos in the area between Wojciech Szczesny and his centre backs. Inter put the ball there and repeatedly so.
It was to the surprise of no-one inside the San Siro — Barca boss Hansi Flick apart, maybe — when Inter took the lead in the 22nd minute with a pass into said canyon. Federico Dimarco ambushed Dani Olmo and did what he had no doubt been instructed to do — played a simple ball through Barcelona’s defence.
Denzel Dumfries, scorer of two goals in the first leg, ran clear and unselfishly squared for Martinez to sweep into an empty net.
Did Barcelona change tack? No and because of that neither did Inter. Just before half-time, Henrik Mkhitaryan threaded a pass through for Martinez. He was about to pull the trigger when Pau Cubarsi appeared to unload the striker’s gun with a sliding challenge.
Play continued but VAR intervened. The recovering defender had taken man before ball. Calhanoglu converted for a deserved 2-0 lead at half-time.
Barcelona’s best form of defence was to not defend at all. They went on the attack and, come the hour, were level. Not that Yamal was involved in either goal.
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The first, in the 54th minute, was a combination between their two full backs, Gerard Martin crossing for Eric Garcia to volley into the bottom corner. Now it was Inter’s turn to crumble and Barcelona were happy to sweep up. They would have been on terms sooner had Yann Sommer not produced a stupendous save to deny Garcia a second from six yards. This was a stop to rank alongside Banks and the rest, flying across his goal to claw the ball off the line. The relief did not last for long, though, and Olmo headed in from Martin’s delivery 90 seconds later.
Inter looked like a team in need of full-time and this with half an hour to play. What they soon heard was the whistle for a
Barcelona penalty. Yamal was taken out by Mkhitaryan and his fall took him well inside the area. The foul, however, was just outside and VAR overturned the award.
Then, the late madness. Raphinha thought he had won it when slamming home two minutes from time. Not so, and we entered extra time.
