BARCELONA FUME OVER 'UNFAIR' DECISION AS THEY POINT FINGER AT THE REFEREE FOR INTER DEFEAT

Barcelona stars Pedri and Eric Garcia and manager Hansi Flick took aim at referee Szymon Marciniak after feeling aggrieved at some decisions in their 4-3 extra-time defeat by Inter Milan

Referee Szymon Marciniak wasn't a popular man with Barcelona players(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Barcelona pointed the finger at referee Szymon Marciniak after losing their Champions League semi-final second leg against Inter Milan in the most dramatic of circumstances. Barca appeared to be going through to the final after Raphinha's 87th-minute goal put them 3-2 up on the night, only to capitulate as Inter roared back.

Veteran defender Francesco Acerbi popped up in centre-forward position to turn in Denzel Dumfries' cross in the 93rd minute to level the scores at 3-3 on the night and 6-6 on aggregate and send the tie to extra time.

Davide Frattesi then turned match-winner, picking out the bottom corner with a cool finish, while Yann Sommer produced some stunning saves to preserve the lead.

It was a wonderful, see-sawing match packed full of goals and incidents and Marciniak had some important calls to make. He awarded Inter a penalty for a foul by Pau Cubarsi on Lautaro Martinez after VAR sent him to the pitchside monitor and later turned a Barca spot-kick into a free-kick after VAR decided Henrikh Mkhitaryan's foul on Lamine Yamal was outside the box.

Barca also felt aggrieved at Inter's late equaliser, believing Dumfries had fouled Gerard Martin in the build-up. Manager Hansi Flick and substitute Pau Victor were booked for their protestations in a feisty atmosphere on the touchline and experienced Polish official Marciniak was on the receiving end of some barbs post-match too.

“This isn’t the first time this has happened to us with this referee, and I think UEFA should look into it. There are things that are hard to explain," Barca midfielder Pedri told El Partidazo de Cope.

“There were many situations. Every 50/50 went their way, and on the penalty on Lamine, which was later called a free-kick, he didn’t give Mkhitaryan a yellow card, which would’ve been his second.”

Lautaro Martinez won a penalty for Pau Cubarsi's tackle in the first half(Image: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

Eric Garcia also took aim Marciniak in an interview with Movistar Plus. "Football has been cruel to us," he said. "I have come to Inter Milan's stadium three times and things always happen that are beyond our control. We all know what happened with this referee when we came here last time. But it's no excuse, they have scored six goals against us."

Flick followed the lead of his players in his press conference. "I don't want to talk too much about the referee, but every decision that was 50-50 went (Inter's) way," he said.

Hansi Flick was booked for his protestations after Inter's late equaliser (Image: Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

"I am disappointed, but not with my team. They tried everything. It's the way it is. We are out, but next year we will try again to make the fans happy.

"It makes me sad... My team did an excellent job. I don't like talking about the referee... I've told him what I think, but I'm not going to say it here what I've said."

Turning his attention to La Liga, he added: "Each player, when they get home, can look in the mirror and be proud of themselves. We'll analyse the game calmly and see what we can do."

- Felix Keith

BARCELONA FIGHTS BACK FOR DRAW AGAINST INTER IN SENSATIONAL FIRST-LEG MATCH

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal moves between two Inter players during their match in Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday. | REUTERS

Barcelona and Inter Milan played to a compelling 3-3 draw in a high-octane Champions League semifinal first-leg clash on Wednesday, with teenage star Lamine Yamal shining bright.

The Italian side raced to a two-goal lead with superb strikes from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries, before the unstoppable Yamal pulled Barca back into it with a sublime solo effort.

Ferran Torres evened the score for the five-time champion, and although Inter nosed ahead through Dumfries again, a Yann Sommer own goal left the tie on a knife-edge at the halfway stage.

"Letting in that many goals (here) is unacceptable, but we also have to give Inter credit, they did very well," said Barca's Raphinha, whose fierce drive forced the own goal.

"The important thing is we leave with a result where everything can happen."

Despite losing three domestic games in a row and seeing its treble hopes crumble, Inter showed resilience and quality in Catalonia.

"After three defeats in a row we saw the real Inter tonight, we played with heart and I'm proud," Dumfries told Amazon Prime Video.

Inter was desperately hoping Thuram would be fit to play after a thigh injury, and he showed precisely why, scoring the fastest ever Champions League semifinal goal after 30 seconds.

Dumfries aimed a low cross towards Thuram and Inigo Martinez slipped at just the wrong time, allowing the France striker room to finish with an impudent back-heel flick.

Quadruple-chasing Barcelona seized control and pushed forward, roared on by the nervous Olympic stadium crowd.

Yamal, in his 100th Barcelona appearance, was leading the charge.

Inter scored its second against the run of play. Francesco Acerbi nodded on a corner and Dumfries reached the dropping ball first to score with a stunning acrobatic effort for the 2023 runner-up.

Barcelona teams over the past few years may have crumbled, but Hansi Flick's youthful side is not burdened by the series of European failures since the club's last title in 2015.

Least of all teenage wizard Yamal, who pulled Barcelona back into the game just three minutes later with a wonderful individual goal that made him the youngest player ever to score in the semis.

On the eve of the game, the Spaniard rejected comparisons to all-time Barca great Lionel Messi, but his goal was straight from the Argentine's playbook.

Yamal shook off Thuram, floated inside from the right flank and past Henrikh Mkhitaryan into the box, drawing defenders towards him, but before they could stop him, he stroked a perfect shot in off the left post.

Yamal nearly repeated the trick minutes later. This time he darted outside, pausing to let Federico Dimarco lunge past him and off the pitch.

The youngster flashed a shot from a tight angle that Sommer tipped onto the crossbar.

"Yamal is a phenomenon of the kind born every 50 years," Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said.

Barca pulled level when Pedri hooked a ball into the area for Raphinha to head across goal and Torres to convert from close range after 38 breathless minutes.

Kounde limped off before halftime in a blow for Barca, while Inter captain Lautaro Martinez also came off hurt. Inzaghi said he "doubts" if he will be ready for the return.

Inter took the sting out of the game early in the second half and then sucker-punched Barca, scoring from another corner, with Dumfries' header bouncing in off Dani Olmo.

Barcelona equalized within two minutes, with Yamal stepping over a corner on the edge of the box, allowing it to run to Raphinha.

The Brazilian's rasping effort smashed against the crossbar and then in, off the back of the unfortunate diving Sommer's head.

Inter's Mkhitaryan had a goal ruled out for an extremely tight offside, later saying he would think about it "maybe for the rest of my life," and Yamal hit the bar again as the sides could not be separated.

"We will have our chance (in Milan)," said Flick. "This is our goal, we will fight for it."

The second leg takes place next Tuesday, with the winner to face Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal on May 31 in the Munich final.

- AFP-JIJI

INTER MILAN CLUNCH 20TH SERIE A TITLE WITH WIN OVER INTER MILAN

Inter Milan players celebrate after scoring a goal against AC Milan en route to the Serie A title. Getty Images

 Inter Milan beat city rivals AC Milan 2-1 on Monday to clinch the Serie A title, the 20th time the club has lifted the trophy in its history.

Goals either side of half-time by Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram set Inter on their way, but Fikayo Tomori pulled one back for AC Milan in the 80th minute and each side had a player sent off shortly before the end of the game as tempers flared.

Inter were able to see out the result, though, and when the whistle blew to end the game they sat on an insurmountable 86 points, 17 clear of Milan with five games to play in the season.

"I told the guys, 'We find ourselves in a situation that's never happened before,'" Inter captain Lautaro Martínez said. "We needed to take advantage of this opportunity, because look around, the entire stadium is ours now."

At the final whistle, a beaming Martinez and teammate Federico Dimarco climbed onto the top of the goal frame at San Siro.

Flares and fireworks were set off in the stands, and the Inter players danced raucously in front of their fans. A banner was unfurled, saying in Italian: "Repeat it to the Madonnina, who are the champions and who the crybabies."

The Madonnina is the statue on top of Milan's cathedral that overlooks the city, and which the derby is named after.

After winning eight other trophies, Simone Inzaghi claimed his first league title as a coach.

"Winning the league with five matches left -- more or less won with nine matches left, today making it mathematically certain -- in a derby, with Milan the home team, that is something that will remain with us," Inzaghi said.

"Everyone gave their very valuable contribution so that we could reach goals like this."

Inter last won the league in the 2020-21 season but failed to replicate that form in the subsequent two years, watching on as Milan and Napoli triumphed in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.

This time around, it has been a dominant campaign for Inzaghi's men, with the Scudetto winners having scored the most goals in Serie A while also boasting the stingiest defence.

Lautaro's impressive return powered the Nerazzurri's attack, scoring 23 (before kickoff) goals to be the front-runner for the Capocannoniere, with Marcus Thuram and Hakan Calhanoglu both reaching double figures.

The wing-back system employed by Inzaghi, with stability from Benjamin Pavard, Alessandro Bastoni and Stefan de Vrij allowing Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries to push forward, proved more than effective in nullifying opponents.

With this triumph, Inter move ahead of Milan in Italian league titles, having been tied at 19 ahead of this season. Juventus lead the way with 36 championship wins.

A star is awarded for every 10 Serie A titles. Only Juventus has won more, with a record 36 and thus three stars.

It had long been a matter of when and not if Inter would win Serie A, and they knew that doing so in the Derby della Madonnina at San Siro -- the stadium they share with Milan -- would be extra special, even if they were technically the away team and only one end of the stadium was reserved for their black-and-blue-clad support.

Moreover, Inter had won the past five derby matches, including both legs of the Champions League semifinal last year and a 5-1 humiliation of Milan this season in Serie A.

Inter took the lead in the 18th minute when Pavard nodded on Dimarco's corner for an unmarked Acerbi to head in from close range.

Martinez should have doubled Inter's lead seven minutes later when he was also left woefully unmarked, but the league's top goal-scorer inexplicably fired over the bar from point-blank range.

Milan seemed to draw confidence from that miss and Rafael Leão had a great chance to level following a rapid run on the counter-attack from Tomori, but he fired straight at Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Thuram came close to doubling Inter's lead, but his effort brushed the outside of the far post.

It was end-to-end action, and Milan captain Davide Calabria also forced a great save from Sommer at the end of the first half.

But clinching the crown seemed inevitable less than four minutes after the restart when Thuram ran onto a long Bastoni ball over the top and feinted around his marker to cut in from the left along the edge of the area and drill into the near bottom corner.

There was a tense finale after Milan pulled one back 10 minutes from time. Sommer did brilliantly to parry Matteo Gabbia's header onto his post, but Tomori nodded in the rebound before grabbing the ball and gesturing frantically to his teammates as he raced back to the center circle, desperate to get the equaliser that would prevent Inter from securing the title.

As tempers flared, a scuffle broke out in stoppage time and Milan's Theo Hernandez and Inter defender Denzel Dumfries were sent off. Calabria was also shown a red card moments later following another scuffle.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.

- ESPN News Services