Champions League: Sommer saves efficient Inter's draw in Barcelona

(sda) Hardly any other team has been as convincing this season with its offensive style of play as FC Barcelona, ​​with which the Catalans have already secured the Spanish Cup and are well on their way to winning the Spanish championship for the 28th time.

So, some of the 40,000 or so fans in the Olympic Stadium on Wednesday evening must have rubbed their eyes in surprise when they looked at the scoreboard after 21 minutes. Inter Milan were leading 2-0 at that point. Marcus Thuram scored the fastest goal in Champions League semi-final history when the Frenchman fired Inter into the lead with a backheel after 30 seconds. Denzel Dumfries then finished off a header from a corner with a shot from the spin.

Only then was Hansi Flick's team able to convert its enormous attacking potential into tangible results. Just three minutes later, however, Yann Sommer in goal for Milan was beaten for the first time, by a man who, before the match, had suddenly been speculated to be unfit.

Lamine Yamal. The Spanish superstar dribbled around several opponents and smashed a shot into the far corner of the net, leaving Sommer in the dust. The former Swiss international goalkeeper had his hands full afterward, but made strong saves against Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Dani Olmo – until Torres finally beat him before halftime.

Inter, however, remained undeterred by the Spanish attack and demonstrated remarkable efficiency in the second half. In one of their first attacks after just over an hour, Dumfries again scored for the Nerazzurri from a corner, and had Henrikh Mkhitaryan not been caught offside with a quarter of an hour remaining, Simone Inzaghi's efficient team might have actually snatched a victory from Barcelona.

But since Raphinha shot the ball powerfully towards Inter's goal just a minute after the 2:3, and it bounced off the crossbar and off Sommer's back into the net, Barcelona were at least able to secure a draw - although Sommer had to intervene again in the closing stages to deny Yamal and Raphinha.

Inter will certainly be happier with the draw than the Spaniards, as everything is now up for grabs before the return match next Tuesday at San Siro, and Sommer still has a chance to reach a Champions League final for the first time.