Was Inter vs Barcelona the greatest Champions League semi-final ever?
Oliver Kay,
Nick Miller and more
May 7, 2025
Inter’s dramatic 7-6 aggregate win over Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals this week seemed to have it all.
Wonderkids doing their thing, a creaking centre-back transforming into a fleet-footed centre forward to take the second leg to extra time, controversial refereeing decisions, six goals in the first leg, seven in the second leg, and a manager in a suit bellowing instructions in the pouring rain. What more could you want?
So, was it the greatest Champions League semi-final of them all?
We asked our writers to pick their favourites, and there are some classics to choose from…
Barcelona vs Inter, 2010 (Inter won 3-2 on aggregate)
First leg: Inter 3-1 Barcelona
Second leg: Barcelona 1-0 Inter
Jose Mourinho has won two Champions League finals and domestic titles in four countries, but maybe his apex, the Jose-est of all games, was a 1-0 defeat. Inter had won the first leg 3-1 after Barcelona were forced to take the coach to Milan because the eruption of an Icelandic volcano had crippled European air travel.
Mourinho was still smarting from being rejected by Barca a couple of years earlier when they favoured an inexperienced B team coach: that decision that was ultimately vindicated by Pep Guardiola winning two Champions Leagues, three league titles and assembling maybe the greatest club team of all time… but for this one night, Mourinho shoved it right up those from Barcelona who dismissed him as ‘The Translator’.
Inter weren’t exactly playing expansive football before Thiago Motta was sent off for wafting a hand in the vague direction of Sergio Busquets’ face, but after that they parked the bus, took the wheels off and threw the keys into the Mediterranean.
Inter sat deep, disrupted the game as best they could (Julio Cesar was booked for time-wasting in the 34th minute) and soaked up every idea that Barca had, to the point where the only breakthrough they managed was from throwing the big man up top; Gerard Pique scoring a late and ultimately fruitless goal.
At the final whistle, Mourinho sprinted onto the pitch, one finger raised high in the air, ostensibly towards the Inter fans but also as a significant ‘eff you’ to Barcelona. To which they reacted by turning the sprinklers on.
“It was the most beautiful defeat of my career,” Mourinho told the
BBC years later.
Liverpool vs Barcelona, 2019 (Liverpool won 4-3 on aggregate)
First leg: Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool
Second leg: Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona
Postage stamp. Like always, Lionel Messi put the ball where we thought it could not go. Alisson flashed across his goal but was never quick enough to stop Messi’s 600th Barcelona goal, still one of his most replayed moments.
Liverpool’s dream of avenging their 2018 Champions League final defeat against Real Madrid felt like it had ended after that goal made it 3-0 at Camp Nou.
Their former hero, Luis Suarez, had turned villain by stabbing home the opener. Messi called James Milner a donkey after clearing him out. But Messi seems plugged into a power grid when others are merely plugged into the wall. He was the most switched-on as he tapped in a Suarez rebound before laser-penning that free kick.
Liverpool had a mountain to climb at Anfield.
Jurgen Klopp said his team would try. But with the away goals rule still active, just one Messi moment — it didn’t even need to be magic — could end what already felt over. But Divock Origi had other ideas. His legend was born after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner was taken quickly, and Georginio Wijnaldum, a second-half super sub, scored the only brace of his Liverpool career. May 7, 2019: forever etched in Anfield folklore as the greatest European night of all.
Messi stood, hands on hips, dressed like lightning in that toxic yellow kit with nowhere to hide as a thunderous, frothing crowd ate his team up.
Barcelona fell into a vortex and Mohamed Salah didn’t even get onto the pitch until after Liverpool’s 4-0 win. It was one of the few games Salah has missed in his long Liverpool career, yet he still managed one of his biggest contributions. As the players gathered to sing You’ll Never Walk Alone beneath a full Kop stand, Salah’s unzipped hoodie revealed three words: never give up.
Ajax vs Bayern, 1995 (Ajax won 5-2 on aggregate)
First leg: Bayern 0-0 Ajax
Second leg: Ajax 5-2 Bayern
As the oldie in this group, I feel duty-bound to pick a game from the early days of the Champions League — and the one that sticks out is Ajax’s demolition of Bayern Munich in 1995.
TV coverage was nothing like it is now. We had only seen glimpses of that brilliant young Ajax team — just brief late-night highlights earlier in the competition — and if you imagined ITV would clear their schedule for a semi-final involving teams from Germany and the Netherlands, you would be very disappointed.
But it was the night that Louis van Gaal’s wonderful team made the rest of Europe (even the UK) sit up and take notice. After a goalless first leg in Munich, they thrashed Bayern 5-2 in the second leg: two goals from Jari Litmanen, a screamer from Finidi George, one from Ronald de Boer and, finally, one from Marc Overmars that was hit so sweetly into the bottom corner that the ball got tangled in net and stanchion.
What a team: the majesty of Frank Rijkaard, the intelligence of De Boer, the silky skills of Clarence Seedorf, the energy of Edgar Davids, the speed of George and Overmars, the unpredictable flair of Nwankwo Kanu and the all-round brilliance of Litmanen, who, for a time in the mid-90s, had a strong claim to be the best player in Europe.
The final, when they beat Milan 1-0, was more attritional, as football almost invariably was in that era. But that second leg against Bayern was something to behold.
Inter vs Barcelona, 2025 (Inter won 7-6 on aggregate)
First leg: Barcelona 3-3 Inter
Second leg: Inter 4-3 Barcelona (after extra time)
Recency bias? Not a bit of it. I’ll be straightforward — Barcelona vs Inter was the best Champions League semi-final in history.
Sure, there may have been more dramatic comebacks — Liverpool against Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur against Ajax, but let’s not forget that, before the fireworks began, around three-quarters of these ties were humdrum, run-of-the-mill affairs.
Not so the 2025 vintage. Every minute was a classic — from Marcus Thuram’s first-minute opener at Montjuic to Davide Frattesi’s extra-time winner at the San Siro.
In between, there was a star turn from a 17-year-old prodigy, a rasping piledriver from the Ballon d’Or favourite, injured strikers scoring, controversial penalties and sharpshooting centre-backs.
The atmosphere at both legs swayed from taut to triumphant, with each side looking doomed at various points — Barcelona twice coming back from two goals down, Inter needing a 93rd-minute equaliser from 37-year-old defender Francesco Acerbi.
On aggregate, it ended 7-6 — the most goals scored in a Champions League semi-final in history, tying with Liverpool’s fixture against Roma back in 2017-18. This week’s game was a far superior match, however — seven years ago, Liverpool had led throughout.
But enough about the statistics. Great football ties are about how those matches feel — in Frattesi’s leap into the stands, Lamine Yamal’s excellence, and Acerbi’s emotion, all played through a shroud of shock and awe, Barcelona vs Inter was the best of European football.
Juventus vs Manchester United, 1999 (United won 4-3 on aggregate)
First leg: Manchester United 1-1 Juventus
Second leg: Juventus 2-3 Manchester United
The jig looked well and truly up for Manchester United, eleven minutes into the second leg of this semi-final against Juventus, their treble dreams drifting away. Pippo Inzaghi had swerved his birthright and stayed onside twice to put Juve 2-0 up on the night, 3-1 on aggregate after United were lucky to get away with only drawing the first leg 1-1.
Then, Roy Keane.
His performance has entered Champions League lore as one of the great individual displays, dragging United to a final he wouldn’t play in, due to the yellow card he received for a foul on Zinedine Zidane. In his first autobiography, Sir Alex Ferguson called it “the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field”, but Keane had actually started the comeback before that booking, heading in a corner before Dwight Yorke levelled things on the night.
Ferguson claimed he was completely relaxed about victory, but it wasn’t until the 83rd minute that Andy Cole sealed it beyond all doubt.
“Full speed ahead Barcelona!” exclaimed Clive Tyldesley on commentary.
Barcelona v Chelsea, 2012 (Chelsea won 3-2 on aggregate)
First leg: Chelsea 1-0 Barcelona
Second leg: Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea
The Champions League semi-finals have seen far better two-parters, more incredible comebacks, perhaps even more heroic rearguard actions, but what side have ever put themselves in such an ominous-looking set of second-leg circumstances than Chelsea in 2012?
The gradient of Chelsea’s uphill Camp Nou task that night is worth reassessing: a 1-0 lead from the first leg looked fragile enough against a Barcelona side who had already scored 105 goals that season. Sorry, 105 goals
at home. If the game plan for caretaker manager Roberto Di Matteo was to keep it tight (and what other game plan could there be against Guardiola’s Barca?), it was undermined by 1) the absence of David Luiz with a hamstring injury, 2) Gary Cahill going off after eight minutes with a hamstring injury, 3) John Terry being sent off after 37 minutes for a staggeringly stupid knee into the hamstring of Alexis Sanchez and, not insignificantly, Barcelona levelling the tie somewhere in between all that.
Chelsea’s approach to gathering their thoughts after conceding involved Didier Drogba shooting straight from kick-off. Within eight minutes, they had 10 men, a centre-back partnership of Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa… and Barcelona had scored again. Ramires, now a makeshift right-back, was then booked, ruling him out of a now very hypothetical final.
But since hell hath no fury like an English club’s midfielder ruled out of a Champions League final by a yellow card picked up away from home against a continental giant, the Brazilian charged forward out of nowhere to latch on to a Frank Lampard pass and chip — nervelessly, unhesitatingly and, in the circumstances, ludicrously — over the head of Victor Valdes and in.
Chelsea led on away goals, but awaited a second-half onslaught. Barcelona didn’t need one: Drogba, lumbering back to help out in defence, chopped down Cesc Fabregas just three minutes after the restart. Lionel Messi, despite the anomaly of an eight-game goal drought against Chelsea, had already scored 63 goals that season. He’d scored 26 in his previous 16 games. His penalty cannoned off Petr Cech’s crossbar.
With eight minutes left, Barca had a goal disallowed for offside. A minute later, Messi hit a post. Chelsea killed time by having as many players suspended for the final as they could.
Barcelona ended up with 73 per cent possession. Chelsea managed to complete a pass, of any description, once every 51 seconds. One of the last of those, a desperate Ashley Cole hoof upfield, found an absurdly isolated Fernando Torres in stoppage time, who ran into some unattended Camp Nou acres to round Valdes and stroke home a goal that confirmed Chelsea’s passage to the final against Bayern Munich.
For about 14 different reasons, it simply shouldn’t have happened.
Manchester United vs Milan, 2007 (Milan won 5-3 on aggregate)
First leg: Manchester United 3-2 Milan
Second leg: Milan 3-0 Manchester United
This tie looked like a classic before it even kicked off. You had Ferguson vs Carlo Ancelotti, a battle of wits between two of the grand names of European football. You had the class and experience of Milan against a young, peppy Manchester United side, refreshed and reinvigorated by the emergence of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo. You had Old Trafford rocking in a fever dream of a first leg, then a hostile, baying San Siro. All the ingredients were there.
They produced an absorbing spectacle that came in two distinct flavours. The first leg was a punch-up. United started well, taking the lead early through Ronaldo, but were then stung by one of the great individual Champions League performances. Kaka didn’t so much outwit the United defenders as ignore them completely, knitting Milan moves together from his own little portable pocket of space and scoring two effortless beauties. United looked done but somehow weren’t: Rooney equalised after receiving a frankly ludicrous Paul Scholes pass, then walloped home a late winner.
The return leg in Milan was more of a mood piece, a throwback to nagging dread that defined Champions League away days for United, particularly against Italian sides, in the 1990s. Milan were technically superior. They seemed to have about nine central midfielders on the pitch, all of them brilliant. Kaka and Clarence Seedorf found the same corner of Edwin van der Sar’s net in the first half, and there was no escaping the subsequent stranglehold.
Tottenham vs Ajax, 2019
First leg: Tottenham 0-1 Ajax
Second leg: Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Let’s agree, for argument’s sake, that Tottenham have a reputation for being somewhat brittle. Then, put them 3-0 down with 35 minutes left in one of the great cathedrals of European football, against the tournament’s darling, and put their best player (Harry Kane) in the stands because of an ankle injury.
This was not the very best 180 minutes of football a Champions League semi-final has ever seen. The first leg was quite mediocre and, truthfully, Ajax produced many of the second leg’s most fluent moments.
But it’s so often the case that comebacks appear suddenly and without warning. Lucas Moura’s first goal was a bolt from nowhere. His second, that ludicrous dance through a packed penalty box, described what his first had done to Ajax. For the first time in the tie, Ajax were uncertain and afraid.
The third goal was a masterpiece of direct football; even Moussa Sissoko’s long punt forward was extremely well-positioned. From there, three perfect touches: one from Fernando Llorente, one from Dele Alli and the last, of course, from Moura.
Think of it this way: a team needs a goal in the final seconds of one of their biggest games in history. And they find it, with a series of touches that had to be exactly as they were or would otherwise have resulted in nothing.
And that all happened to
Tottenham.
Barcelona vs Chelsea, 2009 (1-1 on aggregate, Barcelona won on away goals)
First leg: Barcelona 0-0 Chelsea
Second leg: Chelsea 1-1 Barcelona
In Guardiola’s first season as coach in 2008-09, a Barcelona side led by Messi played some thrilling football while sweeping aside anyone who crossed their path.
In the final four of the Champions League, they came up against Guus Hiddink’s experienced Chelsea side, who eked out a goalless draw in the first leg at the Camp Nou. Michael Essien’s 20-yard pile-driver then put Chelsea 1-0 ahead early in the return at Stamford Bridge, and Hiddink’s side dug in to defend their lead.
Guardiola’s team could not find a way through until the 93rd minute, when Andres Iniesta’s screamer found the top corner, putting Barca ahead on away goals.
There was still time for one more frantic Chelsea attack. A last-gasp penalty appeal was dismissed by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, who had earlier waved away three other calls for spot kicks for the home side.
The final whistle brought furious complaints from Chelsea players. Drogba had to be restrained from confronting Ovrebo, and later received a four-game ban from UEFA.
Barca did not care — they went on to beat Manchester United in the final to complete a historic treble.
The ‘Iniestazo’ is still fondly remembered in Catalonia, especially among
a generation of children born exactly nine months after the famous night at Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City vs Real Madrid, 2022 (Madrid won 6-5 on aggregate)
First leg: Manchester City 4-3 Real Madrid
Second leg: Real Madrid 3-1 Manchester City (after extra-time)
It may not have reached the lunacy of Barcelona vs Inter for the sheer number of goals, but the 11 scored across the two legs of Manchester City against Real Madrid in 2022 felt like the pinnacle of the modern Champions League knockout tie — and a modern rivalry — in which nothing is ever off the cards.
From the competitive thrill of the 4-3 home win at the Etihad to the ludicrous comeback at the Santiago Bernabeu, this semi-final had it all. It’s easy to forget that City were two goals up after just 11 minutes and looking a safe bet to make a second consecutive European final before the first Madrid hammer-blow hit; an instinctive volley from Karim Benzema, clipping the inside of the post, to reel Guardiola’s side back in. Then there was Vinicius Junior’s incredible run and finish, before Benzema’s nerveless Panenka penalty, to somehow leave things in the balance ahead of the second leg.
What followed in the Spanish capital hardly made sense, as City took the lead late on, restoring their two-goal cushion before having a shot cleared off the line, and another graze the post. Madrid scored from their first attempt on goal in more than half an hour, and again just 88 seconds later, to take the tie to extra time at 5-5, with just minutes of stoppage time to spare.
From there, the Madrid winner felt like a foregone conclusion. City scored five goals, came agonisingly close to finding the net several times more, and still succumbed to the inevitability of Ancelotti’s Real Madrid at their peak — a team whose unerring success in this competition may never be seen again.
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