The Battle for Glory: How Inter Milan Shook Barcelona to the Core

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Yesterday’s semi-final match between Barcelona and Inter Milan is one of those matches people won’t forget for a long time. It was really worth the watch. As a Madrid fan, getting knocked out by Barca was a great pain, even though my team wasn’t that serious. They were just playing like chickens, and the fact that Vini Jr. and Mbappé weren’t in good form on the pitch made it worse. I don’t think they were truly focused on winning together; they were more concerned with who should score. In the end, after all the remontada nonsense, the second leg was even worse. Since then, Barca fans haven’t let us rest, even after we’ve already won two trophies. Now they’re aiming for the treble, and if they manage to achieve that again, the streets will know no peace.

I have been siding with Inter Milan since then. In the semi-final, they should at least eliminate the Barca fans so we can rest. The first leg was fire; Milan didn’t come to play—they meant business, just like Barca. Although at some point, they became overly confident in the first leg, which ended in a 3-3 draw. Out of all the players, Lamine Yamal’s combination with Raphinha and Torres, as the extra sidekick, is deadly. Someone once commented that the boy might be 17, but he plays like a legend. His ball control is superb, and right now, he is one of the key players in Barca. I remember the last match they played before the semi-final. The key players were benched to give them some rest. At some point, Barca was already one goal down, and the opponent was pressing them until Hansi Flick decided enough was enough. He brought in Yamal, Raphinha, and Torres, and they changed the whole game in the second half, winning 2-1.

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Last night’s match against Inter was full of prayers. Barca fans, as usual, were making noise already, and they were playing Laho songs by Shallipopi, which they changed to mention Barca players’ names. At some point, I even forgot the real song lyrics. The match started, and at some point, Inter was pressing Barca. Before we knew it, they scored two goals. I was happy, but somehow I knew Barca would retaliate and get more serious with the game, and as expected, they did. It felt as if someone touched Inter’s players with something, and they suddenly relaxed, giving Barca the boost. The fact that Yamal was cooking Dimarco every chance he got made me upset at some point. It felt like a son cooking his father, and since Dimarco couldn’t take it anymore, he resorted to foul play until he got subbed off. They also removed Lautaro Martínez. Before we knew it, Barca equalized with another goal, topping the match. At that point, I felt it was over, and Barca would win the match. But then, Acerbi managed to equalize at the 93rd minute. I was jumping up and down.

At that point, I thought if they could hold on through extra time, penalties would be easier for them. But at 99 minutes, they shocked Barca fans with the last goal, making it 7-6 on aggregate. They started defending, playing out every ball they came across, and eventually, they won. The Barca players were silent, and peace could finally reign again.