Before the game against Internazionale, you could’ve forgiven Barcelona for having approached the match with some trepidation.
That’s because prior to Tuesday night’s Champions League semi-final second-leg, the Catalan giants had won just one of their six away UCL matches against Inter (D3 L2) – a 2-1 win in December 2019.
The Nerazzurri had been unbeaten in their last 15 home matches in the competition (W12 D3) – their best unbeaten home streak in major European competition since a run of 27 between 1980 and 1987 – and they had also won nine of their last 11 home semi-final matches in Europe (D1 L1).
Goals were virtually guaranteed at San Siro
Furthermore, Barca had managed only five wins in 24 away games in Italy (21%), their lowest win ratio in any non-Spanish nation in the competition.
Goals were almost certainly guaranteed as each of the last two games between the teams (October 2022 and this season’s first leg) ended 3-3, and Barca had already scored 40 goals in the competition this season – the most by a side in a season since Hansi Flick’s Bayern Munich in 2019/20 (43).
The 18th major European meeting between them also meant that only the Bayern Munich vs Real Madrid (28), Juventus vs Real Madrid (21) and Inter vs Real Madrid (19) fixtures have been played more often in history.
Barca were always going to look to their golden boy, Lamine Yamal, to help lead them to what would be a sixth final too. His 44 shots, 19 shots on target and 78 dribbles were already the most on record by a teenager in a season since 2003/04, before a ball had even been kicked at the San Siro.
The stage was certainly set for another epic encounter…
Barca’s early dominance counted for nothing in the opening 45
Although Inter appeared the more decisive in the opening exchanges, it was actually Barca who were setting the tempo, the Catalans having 69.4% possession over the opening 15 minutes of the game.
That counted for nothing once Denzel Dumfries was on hand to provide an assist for Lautaro Martinez to open the scoring on 21 minutes.
The Argentinian’s ninth goal in this season’s competition – and the most by any Internazionale player in a single edition of the Champions League, overtaking Samuel Eto’o in 2011 (eight goals) – was significant in the sense that Inter had W9, D1, L0 when scoring the opening goal in the 2024/25 UCL.
A contentious penalty awarded to the Nerazzurri heading into half-time was their seventh in this season’s competition, more than any other team. Hakan Calhanoglu’s successful spot-kick was the 12th first-half goal that Hansi Flick’s side Barcelona had conceded in 14 UCL games this season, with only Feyenoord (13) and PSV (13) conceding more.
With 15 touches in Inter’s box, the same as their hosts at the other end, Barca were certainly making a game of it in the opening 45, and their six shots were only two shy of the Nerazzurri’s.
Nine dribbles and a 44.4% success rate at that point was exactly the same for both sides, with Flick surely disappointed with his side’s dominance in possession before the break (67.5%) and a passing accuracy of 86.8% leading to nothing by half-time.
Stunning fightback was in vain
By an hour of play the Catalans had forced their way back into the game thanks to a stunning Eric Garcia volley and a flying header from Dani Olmo, his first in the competition since the game against Brest way back on 26 November.
44.1% of the action had been in the Internazionale third over the opening 15 minutes of the second half, and 75.2% possession for Barcelona in that time indicated how the game had swung in their favour.
When Raphinha took advantage of his shot rebounding straight to him, giving him a 13th goal in the 24/25 Champions League (no player has more), most football watchers would’ve been in awe of yet another comeback performance to lead Barca into the final.
Frenkie de Jong had also attempted 125 passes and Lamine Yamal had nine shots, both the highest total for a Barcelona player in the competition this season. This against an Inter side that had been renowned for their defensive excellence was no small feat, and yet it all still slipped away from them.
A goal from Francesco Acerbi, the second oldest player at 37y and 85d to score in a UCL semi-final after Ryan Giggs for Manchester United v Schalke in 2010/11 at 37y & 148d, and another from Davide Frattesi saw to it that Inter progressed from the joint-highest scoring semi-final tie in Champions League history (after Liverpool 7-6 Roma in 2017/18).
Sensational semi was slanted in Barca’s favour in most aspects
It’s the eighth time Barcelona have been eliminated at the semi-final stage, the joint most of any team (level with Real Madrid), and the Catalans’ 43 goals scored in the competition has only ever been bettered by Barcelona themselves (45 in 1999/00).
If Hansi Flick is looking for reasons why his side ultimately didn’t make it to the final, 24 goals conceded – their highest ever total in a Champions League campaign – would be a reasonable enough start point.
Aside from tackles attempted, tackles won and interceptions made, Barcelona were better in every other metric on the night, however.
Some, such as possession based stats (71.2% to 28.8%) and passes made (772 to 313) were so ridiculously slanted in Barca’s favour, that Flick will be wondering how on earth a side that had been so brave in both semi-finals still ended up on the losing side.
For the neutral it was a two-legged tie that will live long in the memory and was arguably one of the best in Champions League history.
