The first half was a perfect advert for the beautiful game. Marcus Thuram opened the scoring after just 30 seconds, tapping home with an audacious backheel flick before Denzel Dumfries doubled Inter’s advantage, redirecting Francesco Acerbi’s header beyond Wojciech Szcezny with a masterful overhead kick.

Inter Milan exploited Barcelona's weaknesses but was impossible to keep Barça's attacking firepower quiet for 90 minutes.

But not Inter Milan. On this Wednesday night, in the first leg of a Champions League semifinal, Inter ran stride for stride with Barca, and escaped with a 3-3 draw — a result the Italian club will gladly take back to Milan for next week's second leg.