Mkhitaryan's 4-3: "I'll remember that for the rest of my life"
The celebrations for Inter's fourth goal on a spectacular Champions League night, with Lamine Yamal defended by three men, had already begun when the offside flag immediately dampened the mood. And Henrikh Mkhitaryan, by his own admission, can't forget it.
Minimally offside: Henrikh Mkhitaryan. IMAGO/Nicolo Campo
Certainly: Even though Inter had sold themselves much more expensively at the wrong time, especially in view of the recent result crisis, by missing a triple chance in this semi-final first leg against FC Barcelona, FC Barcelona were still the stronger team in this first part of the Champions League semi-final.
And a team that responded impressively to the early 0-2 deficit – including Marcus Thuram's goal in just 30 seconds – and the subsequent 2-3. Above all, it was Lamine Yamal , whom Milan coach Simone Inzaghi praised to the skies during an interview with Prime Video . "I haven't seen such quality in a player in eight or nine years," the coach, who has been with the Nerazzurri since 2021, began his eulogy, adding: "He posed massive problems for us."
According to Inzaghi, Inter ultimately had to deliberately leave space elsewhere because Lamine Yamal was being tackled by three players following his instructions. "It wasn't enough to double him. We had to have three players on him."
And yet, in the end, some of the Lombard players were left with disappointment, even though a 3-3 draw against the favored Catalans and the upcoming deciding match in front of a home crowd in the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium could be seen as a good first step, as Yann Sommer , for example, said ("Away in Barcelona, we'll take the draw - that was tough").
The reason for the somewhat growing disappointment, in addition to the 2-0 and 3-2 leads that had been conceded, lay here: their own goal to make it 4-3, what appeared to be Inter's third lead. It came in the 74th minute , when a double-scorer, Denzel Dumfries ("Man of the Match"), found Henrikh Mkhitaryan , who was running into the penalty area on the left, with a low cross from the right wing. Mkhitaryan coolly fired home from a slightly tight angle, beating FCB keeper Wojciech Szczesny .
The bitter part: The offside signal, signaled directly by the linesman, was subsequently revealed after extensive VAR investigation to have been incredibly close. Images released shortly thereafter by UEFA revealed that Mkhitaryan's toe was slightly offside next to his opponent Pau Cubarsi .
Unfortunately, I was two to three centimeters offside.
The former Dortmund player (2013 to 2016) found it all difficult to comprehend, waved his hand on the field, and after the game, stated: "I'll probably think about that for the rest of my life... At that moment, we could have taken the lead again, but unfortunately, I was two to three centimeters offside."
In the end, however, even the Armenian was overjoyed that his team had gotten back on track in time after three consecutive competitive defeats without scoring a goal, including losing the Serie A lead to Napoli . And now, ahead of the return match in a week (Tuesday, 9 p.m., LIVE! on kicker), they have a good chance of reaching the final again, just like in 2022/23 ( a narrow 0-1 loss against Manchester City ). Mkhitaryan: "It's been difficult for us recently. We've been tired. But we told ourselves in the dressing room that we need a final push for the final stretch, to finish the season without regrets."
On the topic: Thuram and Lamine Yamal - Historic moments in Barcelona
