Barcelona’s journey in the 2024-25 Champions League campaign has come to a painful end at the semi-final stage thanks to a heartbreaking 4-3 defeat in extra-time to Inter Milan (7-6 on aggregate) in Tuesday’s second leg at the _San Siro_. Barça found themselves down 2-0 at halftime but came roaring back to take a 3-2 lead in the 88th minute, but conceded deep into added time and then in extra-time to see their European dreams turn into a nightmare in Italy.
**FIRST HALF**
After a wild first leg things were expected to settle down to begin the return match, and that’s exactly what we saw at the start of this one as the pace was considerably slower and neither team took big risks early on.
Barça had good moments in the opening minutes and their high pressing was effective to force Inter into giving the ball away constantly, nullifying their counter-attacking threat and not allowing the hosts to build any momentum.
But a bad mistake changed the game: Dani Olmo gave the ball away inside his own half and Denzel Dumfries was released in behind the Barça defense, and the Dutchman showed poise and unselfishness to give Lautaro Martínez an easy tap-in to put Inter in front after 20 minutes.
The Catalans had a fantastic response and played their best 15-minute stretch of the half right after conceding, constantly winning the ball back high up the pitch and creating real opportunities. They also had a strong shout for a penalty when a shot by Olmo hit the arm of Francesco Acerbi inside the box, but VAR didn’t see enough to give a spot kick and the referee wasn’t sent to the screen.
Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres missed big chances to equalize from short range, while Inter had a couple of shots from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Hakan Çalhanoglu go agonizingly wide as the home team came close to doubling the lead.
But just before halftime, a huge controversy proved to be the turning point: Lautaro Martínez went down under the challenge of Pau Cubarsí inside the box and the referee didn’t give a penalty, but was advised by VAR to look at the screen despite it not being a clear and obvious error by the on-field official. Szymon Marciniak changed his mind after reviewing the play, which showed Cubarsí kicking Lautaro’s foot despite the fact the Argentine striker was already going down, and pointed to the spot seconds before halftime.
Çalhangolu scored the penalty with ease, and Inter had a monster two-goal lead at the break. Barça suddenly found themselves in a terrible position with a mountain to climb on the road and only 45 minutes to do so, and they would need a heroic effort to pull off a miracle in the second half.
**SECOND HALF**
Barça were a completely different team to start the second half, with a different level of urgency and intensity that caught Inter off guard and immediately put the _Nerazzurri_ under pressure.
The _Blaugrana_ played faster and more incisive football, and needed just 10 minutes to get a goal back as Gerard Martín played a cross to the far post and Eric García appeared out of nowhere to score a brilliant volley and give the visitors a chance.
Two minutes later came a golden chance for the equalizer thanks to a textbook counter-attack in which Martín, Pedri and Eric combined and got all the way into the six-yard box, and Martín set up Eric for an easy tap-in but Yan Sommer made a spectacular reflex save to keep the ball out of the net.
But the Barça pressure was too much for Inter to handle, and Martín ended an incredible 10-minute solo stretch with his second assist of the night, a perfect cross to find Olmo all alone at the far post for an easy header to leave the tie all square at 5-5 right at the hour mark.
Inter were on the ropes and desperately tried to sit back and avoid conceding a quick third goal, and they were very lucky not to give away a penalty with 20 minutes to go when Mkhitaryan fouled Lamine Yamal right at the edge of the area, and VAR changed the referee’s original decision from a penalty to a free-kick after the evidence showed Yamal was fouled just outside the box. Barça couldn’t score from the free-kick, and Inter dodged a massive bullet.
Barça completely dominated the final minues of the contest, and Inter looked increasingly out of energy as they tried to survive the _Blaugrana_ pressure and take the game to extra-time, but their hearts were broken with two minutes left in regulation: Pedri found Raphinha all alone inside the box, and the Brazilian had his initial shot saved but was quickest to the rebound and fired home with his right foot to complete the comeback.
Barça had five minutes of added time to protect their lead and advance to the Final, and Yamal hit a rocket onto the post in what could have been the clincher for the visitors. But there was still time for one last twist as Dumfries won the ball from Martín and crossed it to Acerbi, who fired it home and scored the most unlikely of equalizers in the 93rd minute.
**EXTRA-TIME**
The _San Siro_ crowd was given new life by the late equalizer and completely took over the game in the extra period, urging Inter forward and almost building momentum all by themselves. The home team responded by taking the initiative, and completed their own comeback in the 99th minute when Davide Frattesi found himself all alone inside the box and curled a left-footed shot into the far corner to put Inter back in front.
Hansi Flick threw caution to the wind ahead of the final 15 minutes and replaced Cubarsí with Pau Víctor, changing his formation to a very attacking 3-2-5 with only one center-back and plenty of bodies in and around the box trying to create chances for a late miracle.
Simone Inzaghi responded with some defensive changes and a switch to a 5-3-2 with a low block, but his team still had plenty of counter-attacking threat to try and kill off the tie with a fifth goal.
Robert Lewandowski had the first big chance of the second half of extra-time, missing a point-blank header after a brilliant individual move by Yamal, but Inter responded on the counter with a shot by Frattesi that required a great save from Wojciech Szczesny.
Barça continued to attack and Yamal had two monster chances to equalize with great efforts from inside the box, but Sommer made a pair of fantastic saves to keep Inter in front as time was quickly running out for the _Blaugrana_. The Catalans fought with everything they had at the end, but couldn’t produce a late chance and the final whistle came to end their European journey and send Inter to Munich.
Neutrals will remember this as one of the greatest Champions League semi-finals of all time, with both legs producing some of the best football drama we have ever seen. Inter fans will certainly never forget this night.
Barça fans will feel the pain of losing this one for a long time. It was right there, until it wasn’t.
**Inter**: Sommer; Bisseck (Darmian 71’), Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries (De Vrij 108’), Barella, Çalhanoglu (Frattesi 79’), Mkhitaryan (Zielinski 79’), Dimarco (Augusto 55’); Thuram, Lautaro (Taremi 71’)
Goals: _Lautaro (21’), Çalhanoglu (pen 45+1’), Acerbi (90+3’), Frattesi (99’)_
**Barcelona**: Szczesny; Eric (Fort 98’), Cubarsí (Pau Víctor 105’), Iñigo (Araujo 76’), Martín; De Jong, Pedri (Gavi 105’); Yamal, Olmo (Fermín 82’), Raphinha; Ferran (Lewandowski 90’)
Goals: _Eric (54’), Olmo (60’), Raphinha (88’)_