The manager of Inter Milan, Simone Inzaghi, has pinpointed Lamine Yamal as the Barcelona player who posed challenges for his team during the UEFA Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.
He further characterised the 17-year-old Spain international as a rare talent, likening him to a phenomenon that emerges once in half a century, noting that he is particularly challenging to defend against.
“[He is a] difficult player to mark,” Inzaghi said at his post-match interview after the game at Camp Nou.
“In the last 25 minutes of the first half, Lamine Yamal caused us a lot of problems.
“He is a talent that is born once every 50 years. I had never seen him live and today he impressed me,” he said.
Naija News reports that Barcelona and Inter Milan played out a dramatic 3-3 draw at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, setting up a tantalising second leg in Milan.
The match exploded into life right from the start, with Marcus Thuram opening the scoring for Inter Milan in the 1st minute after capitalising on a defensive lapse from Barcelona.
Inter kept their foot on the gas, doubling their lead in the 21st minute through Denzel Dumfries, whose driving run and clinical finish stunned the home crowd.
Barcelona responded swiftly. The Catalans found a lifeline in the 24th minute through young sensation Lamine Yamal, who calmly slotted home to make it 2-1.
Ferran Torres levelled the tie in the 38th minute with a composed finish after a well-worked attacking move.
The second half saw the intensity rise further.
Dumfries scored his second of the night in the 63rd minute to restore Inter’s lead, but just two minutes later, fortune favoured Barcelona as Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer deflected the ball into his own net to make it 3-3.
Both sides pushed for a winner in the final stages, but the scoreline remained locked, giving fans a six-goal thriller and a semifinal worthy of its billing.
