Barcelona and Inter Milan shared a compelling 3-3 draw in a high-octane Champions League semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday.
The Italian side raced into a two-goal lead with superb strikes from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries, before the unstoppable Lamine Yamal pulled Barca back into it with a sublime solo effort.
Ferran Torres levelled for the five-time champions and although Inter nosed ahead through Dumfries again, a Yann Sommer own goal left the tie on a knife-edge at the halfway stage.
“Letting in that many goals (here) is unacceptable, but we also have to give Inter credit, they did very well,” said Raphinha, whose fierce drive forced the own goal.
“The important thing is we leave with a result where everything can happen.”
Despite losing three domestic games in a row and seeing their treble hopes crumble, Inter showed resilience and quality in Catalonia.
“After three defeats in a row we saw the real Inter tonight, we played with heart and I’m proud,” Dumfries told Amazon Prime Video.
“Obviously we wanted to win but I think it was a good performance and it’s still all to play for.”
Inter were desperately hoping Thuram would be fit to play after a thigh injury and he showed precisely why, scoring the fastest ever Champions League semi-final goal after 30 seconds.
Dutch wide man Dumfries aimed a low cross towards Thuram and Inigo Martinez slipped at just the wrong time, allowing the France striker room to finish with an impudent back-heel flick.
Quadruple-chasing Barcelona seized control and pushed forward, roared on by the nervous Olympic stadium crowd.
Yamal, on his 100th Barcelona appearance was leading the charge.
Against the run of play Inter scored their second. Francesco Acerbi nodded on a corner and Dumfries reached the dropping ball first to score with a stunning acrobatic effort for the 2023 runners-up.
Barcelona teams over the past few years may have crumbled but Hansi Flick’s youthful side are not burdened by the series of European failures since they last won the competition in 2015.
Least of all teenage wizard Yamal, who pulled Barcelona back into the game just three minutes later with a wonderful individual goal that made him the youngest player ever to score in the semis.
On the eve of the game the Spaniard rejected comparisons to all-time Barca great Lionel Messi, but his goal was straight from the Argentine’s playbook.
Yamal shook off Thuram, floated inside from the right flank and past Henrikh Mkhitaryan into the box, drawing defenders towards him but before they could stop him, stroked an inch-perfect shot in off the left post.
Minutes later Yamal nearly repeated the trick. This time he darted outside, pausing to let Federico Dimarco lunge past him and off the pitch.
From a tight angle the youngster flashed a shot that Sommer tipped onto the crossbar.