Champions League | FC Barcelona vs. Inter: Hansi Flick's mentality monsters

Shortly before kickoff, things grew restless at Barcelona's Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium: 17-year-old Lamine Yamal abandoned his warm-up early and went into the hands of physiotherapists. Was the highly talented youngster going to miss his 100th competitive match for FC Barcelona's first team due to muscular problems? It was a false alarm, not one of Yamal's feints, with which he would embarrass his opponents innumerable times over the next 93 minutes.

It's unthinkable whether FC Barcelona would have come back from their false start against Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-final without Lamine Yamal. French international Marcus Thuram, formerly of Borussia Mönchengladbach, had just recovered from injury and scored a fabulous backheel after just 30 seconds. He scored an assist from Dutch international Denzel Dumfries, who had also returned to the starting line-up for the first time after an injury. Without these two, Inter Milan had not scored in their last three matches, were knocked out of the Italian Cup and lost the lead in the Italian league. Inter arrived in Barcelona in crisis mode, but there was no sign of that. Instead, a team that effectively took advantage of their few chances: in the 21st minute, Dumfries scored with a spectacular scissor-kick from a corner.

Defending set pieces is one of the few weaknesses of Barça, a team trained by German coach Hansi Flick to play spectacular attacking football. They're also somewhat vulnerable to counterattacks. But what Flick, 60, who failed as Germany coach, has instilled in his young team, along with his fast-paced, counter-pressing style of football, is never to give up and to maintain a risky style with a high defense , regardless of the game's progress. Last Saturday night, in the Spanish Cup final, they defeated arch-rivals Real Madrid 3-2 in extra time after trailing 2-1 at one point.

On Wednesday evening, it was the youngest player who took the team on his shoulders and got them back on track with his sensational goal in the 24th minute. Yamal took the ball from Thuram and embarked on an irresistible solo run, capping it off with an unstoppable curling shot into the top left corner. And just two minutes later, Yamal almost added another, but Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer managed to tip the ball onto the crossbar.

Yamal embodies youthful insouciance like no other, yet he's not worried about his status. He's already a European champion, a Super Cup winner, and a cup winner, but he doesn't yet have a driver's license or a long-term professional contract; that's not coming until July 13, when the newly bleached-blonde player turns 18. "I try to have fun; I think that's the secret. I try to convey the joy of playing football to people. I still have a lot to achieve, and I hope I can continue like that in the second leg," said the youngster after the match.

After his goal, Barcelona continued to put pressure on the visitors for the remainder of the first half. Inter Milan barely got out of their own half, and Yann Sommer, the Swiss international goalkeeper with Bundesliga experience, had several opportunities to distinguish himself. It wasn't until the 38th minute that he was denied a goal by Ferran Torres, who was playing at center forward in place of the injured Robert Lewandowski, after a beautiful combination.

In the second half, Barcelona couldn't quite maintain the intensity of the constant pressure, which is only too understandable in the final stages of a grueling season with games every three days . But the mentality was right: Even Dumfries's header in the 64th minute following a corner didn't discourage Flick's men, equalizing just a minute later with a powerful shot from the Brazilian Raphinha that bounced off the crossbar, onto Sommer's back, and into the net. But the crossbar wasn't always Sommer's enemy. It saved him twice from shots by Yamal, once shortly before the end from another fabulous curling effort, which wasn't a misplaced cross to Raphinha, as Yamal clarified: "The truth is, I didn't see Raphinha. I wanted to shoot."

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi was full of praise for Yamal. "He caused a lot of problems. Lamine Yamal is a phenomenon born every 50 years. He really impressed me today."

Yamal's career so far is indeed impressive: he has scored 22 goals and provided 28 assists after his first 100 games for Barcelona, ​​and he's done that before he even turned 18. He's living in the moment and is already looking ahead to the second leg: "I have a lot of confidence in my team. I believe we'll give it our all in the second leg and advance."

Coach Hansi Flick sees it similarly. "The team's mentality was strong, the way they came back from falling behind, the way Lamine carried the team on his shoulders. We'll stay true to our style in Milan. Hopefully, that will be enough for the final." The showdown will take place on May 6th at Milan's San Siro Stadium. A spectacle similar to the one in Barcelona is not out of the question.