Denzel Dumfries almost singlehandedly kept Inter's season alive in Barcelona on Wednesday, with the Dutchman scoring two goals and creating another in an extraordinary 3-3 draw at Montjuic.
The Nerazzurri had gone into this eagerly-awaited Champions League semi-final first leg on the back of three consecutive defeats that saw them replaced by Napoli at the top of Serie A, and dumped out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals AC Milan. Consequently, many fans feared the worst for Simone Inzaghi's side against Europe's form team.
However, Inter raced into a 2-0 lead thanks in no small part to Dumfries, who was making his first start for a month due to injury. The wing-back crossed for the fit-again Marcus Thuram to open the scoring with a stunning back-heeled finish before Dumfries doubled the visitors' advantage himself with a sensational scissors-kick.
Barca were level by the break, however, thanks to the irrepressible Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, who did a fine job filling in for Robert Lewandowski, but Dumfries put Inter back in front when he climbed highest to head home a Hakan Calhanoglou corner midway through the second half.
The Blaugrana drew level almost immediately when Yann Sommer unwittingly deflected Raphinha's thumping drive into his own net, but Inter held on quite comfortably to ensure that a win of any variety of San Siro next week will send them through to their second final in three years.
Below, GOAL rates all of the Inter players on show at Monjuic as Dumfries did the impossible by upstaging Yamal!
