Barcelona vs. Inter: Three Takeaways From a Frenzied Clash

We thought we’d seen all the drama Barcelona vs Inter could serve up in the first leg. However, this tie has proven to be the gift that keeps on giving. After the six goals scored in Spain, you would have thought proceedings in Milan would be more cagey. At the end of 120 minutes of football, seven more goals had been scored at the two ends of the San Siro. 

Here are some observations from a frenetic encounter that ended in elation for Simone Inzaghi and his men and heartbreak for the Catalans.

Inzaghi Was Right

Instead of starting with Davide Frattesi in midfield, as this writer had suggested, the Inter boss stuck to his preferred midfield trio. And they did a job for him. Hakan Çalhanoglu was not so effective offensively and did give away the ball often, as he was guilty of doing in the first leg. But he tucked away that penalty beautifully to give Inter Milan a 2-0 halftime lead. 

Henrik Mkhitaryan was also a little off the pace but tried his best to help Federico Dimarco deal with the Lamine Yamal threat. His timely foul on a goal-bound Yamal inches from the 18-yard box. Were it not for Frenkie De Jong blocking his teammate’s shot, even that Mkhitaryan contribution would have been frowned upon. 

But bringing Frattesi on towards the 80th minute proved a masterstroke. He kept the tiring Barça defenders occupied with his clever movement. And when the chance came to him to finish the Blaugrana off in extra time, he seized it with aplomb. He had the presence of mind to disable the defender before placing the ball beyond Wojciech Szczesny’s grasp.

Yamal Is A Beast

The Barcelona number 19’s prowess was well-known and widely praised going into this game. But in this Barcelona vs Inter matchup, he seemed to unlock another level-Yamal beast mode. Yes, he didn’t score but he tormented the Inter defense without respite the entire game. Spectators will have lost count of the number of times he left Dimarco and his replacement Carlos Augusto for dead on the right flank. 

In addition to ghosting his markers, Yamal carried a very real goal threat whenever he got near Inter’s box. If Inter keeper Yan Sommer hadn’t been on his A-game, the teenager would have bagged a hat-trick. He would have also had a couple of assists too, most notably the improbable cross he squeezed over to Robert Lewandowski in the second half of extra-time. Perhaps a fitter Lewa would have capitalized on that chance. 

His box of tricks and goal threat aside, that kid has an engine on him. When the final whistle was blown, most other players looked spent, but Yamal looked as if he could play another 90 minutes.   

Heart Over Talent

Between the two teams at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, it was clear that Barcelona had the more youthful, talented set of players. You could see it in the way they breezed past Inter’s midfield veterans, setting up chance after chance. The Catalans had the ball 78% of the time and racked up twice as many shots as the Milanese. Yet those overrun Nerrazzuri outdid Barça in the one statistic that matters the most. 

How? They had a plan, but they played with heart to see it through, where their energy and skill came short. How else can you explain some of the saves Sommer made? Or is Francesco Acerbi popping up with a stoppage-time equalizer? Or Marcus Thuram playing two hours of high-octane football days after recovering from injury. There were doubts that Lautaro Martinez was fit enough to play, but he started the game, scored and won a penalty. 

The Beautiful Game

The contrast of styles that Barcelona vs Inter offers was always bound to make for an entertaining spectacle. But few could have predicted a 13-goal tie won by the injury-ravaged team with waning domestic form. This is why we call it the beautiful game.