‘This is why we love football’: Thierry Henry breaks down Inter and Barcelona’s breathtaking UCL semis

Barcelona and Inter brought the magic in a 4-3 Inter victory in extra time (7-6 on aggregate) to book their place in the Champions League final. With 13 goals across the two legs, this has been the joint highest scoring UCL semifinal ever, alongside the 2017-18 clash between Roma and Liverpool. With two-goal comebacks in both ties and a late late equalizer from Francesco Acerbi in the second leg, like CBS Sports analyst Thierry Henry said, “Nights like this are why we love football.”

Even just focusing on the second leg between the two teams, there was enough going on to create a motion picture. Inter went ahead 20 minutes into the match with Denzel Dumfries finding Lautaro Martinez to beat Barcelona’s offside trap before Barca conceded a penalty right before half that Hakan Calhanoglu slotted home for a two-goal lead. But just like in the first leg, Hansi Flick’s men were able to fight back with Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo both scoring right after the half. 

It felt like Raphinha won the game for Barcelona, scoring in the 87th minute, but Acerbi hit right back to bring it level and force extra time. All that could be seen was a sea of limbs at the San Siro when Davide Frattesi put the ball in the back of the net to push Inter ahead in extra time as a home crowd got to witness their team make a second UCL final since 2022. It was an emotional affair for everyone, and Henry broke down why.

“I’ve been bored watching football for the past one or two years, bored. So, thank you, Inter, and thank you, Barcelona,” Henry said. “Tonight, that’s why I love football, that’s why we all love football, this is what we want to see. We want to see teams going at each other, being open, playing. What we’ve seen and Alessandro [Del Piero] said, home and away, usually you have a team that has a good game, then you have a comeback.” 

“We’ve seen the same game. Come on, Raphinha, you think that you’ve won it, Acerbi brought his team back into the game and Lamine Yamal can win it at the very end, and he doesn’t, but again, I will say it, thank you, this is why we love football. Thank you [Simone] Inzaghi, thank you, Flick, thank you, everyone that was involved in this game, because recently I’ve been bored watching games.”

The unscripted nature of semifinals and matches like this one, where teams leave everything that they have on the pitch, are what can make soccer beautiful. Even players who were a doubt coming into the match, like Robert Lewandowski and Martinez, had parts to play before it was all said and done. When you can make the UCL final, no stone can be left unturned, and Inter and Barcelona tried everything that they could.

“When you look back at history, the Champions League semifinal is some of the most entertaining and high quality of game that you’ll ever see in football and this is right up there and not right up there, this is arguably one of the best, if not the best in the Champions League era,” CBS Sports analyst Jamie Carragher said.

“It was that good, both ties and that man there [Yamal] doesn’t deserve to be on the losing side. Nobody deserves to be on the losing side, but especially when you consider how young he was. He was fantastic in both legs, and he was the man who almost won it for Barcelona late on in normal time and almost got Barcelona back into the game at the end of extra time. The man is an absolute superstar, and the one tinge of sadness is that when we’re in Munich [for the Champions League final], we won’t be watching Yamal.”

While Yamal won’t be in the final, at 17 and just having featured in his 102nd game for Barcelona, he’ll be back at this stage and there’s plenty of time for him to make a final as he establishes himself as one of the best players in soccer. Inter’s equalizer came from Acerbi, who is 20 years older than Yamal, but goals can come from anywhere in the beautiful game, and this tie had it all. 

This is a two-legged battle that won’t fade anytime in the near future, and it was a fitting clash between two of the best sides in soccer currently. Barcelona may have seen their treble hopes go up in flames at the hands of Inter, but that’s why a treble is one of the hardest feats to accomplish in soccer. As Inter already lost in the Coppa Italia and could see Serie A also slip from them, the Champions League is their shot at glory, and they played like it. Now they’re one of the final two teams standing with a chance to win it all.

You can watch the Champions League final on Saturday, May 31 on Paramount+.