As big-headed, boastful, and bully as you want, my son: the hot notes from Barça-Inter

BarcelonaA brutal draw in a spectacular Champions League match between Barça and Inter Milan. Here are some quick notes.

Milan remains to continue dreaming. Barça did the hardest thing, which was to stay behind for the entire ninety minutes. They overcame two goals down and made it 3-3 in the next play after receiving the third goal from an Inter side in which Dumfries was a true nightmare for the Barça defense. The Italians scored the fourth on another run from the dangerous Dutch full-back finished by Mkhitaryan, but a pinpoint offside saved Barça from going to Meazza with a defeat in their bag. If Plan A is a risk and Plan B isn't worth exploring, we'll have to go all out with Flick's ideas even after next week's return. There won't be any blame if the final in Munich doesn't have a Catalan presence. The season, regardless of what happens in La Liga, can already be considered a success. However, the treble is still possible.

Grown rhymes with great. It can't be said that Barcelona fans have already witnessed Lamine Yamal's first great match in a Barça shirt. He's scored as many as Inter's at just seventeen years old, so perhaps it would be better to wait to make the headline. With the score at 0-2, the super-warrior from Rocafonda put the team on his back to get out of the hole and invented a stunning goal to lift the spirits on Montjuïc. Minutes later, he once again humiliated poor Dimarco to close in on a work of art that only Sommer and the crossbar ruined. Not even Maldini at his peak, fused with the best Puyol, could stop this Lamine Yamal who, in the build-up, aware that he's very good, acknowledged that he's a bit overweight and even boasted about that thuggish attitude. He'll be unpopular, but we understand. Carpe Diem, you.

It wasn't such bad news. We wrote a few days ago that Barcelona fans shouldn't suffer unduly from the absence of Lewandowski, who was injured against Celta Vigo. When Flick gave him a rest, Barça not only didn't notice his absence, but they also generated even more danger with less positional players who were more difficult for opposing center backs to control. The man chosen to replace the Polish striker, Ferran Torres, plays this undetectable role perfectly and has already scored nineteen goals this season, many of them decisive. He scored the most important goal of Saturday's Copa del Rey final, repeated his feat against Inter, and has definitely sparked a debate in the forward line.

Miserable planning. Flick's Barça excites. Lamine Yamal is a scandal of a footballer. Pedri controls games as he pleases. Raphinha seems like the reincarnation of Rivaldo. Iñigo is the center-back of the present. Cubarsí, the one of the future. All of this is true, and we must give Laporta the credit he deserves, especially for the commitment he made on the bench. However, we can't lose sight of the fact that this team is the product of a deep economic crisis that has only been handled with leverage and extreme precautions, and that has forced the team to push the envelope with certain players without any guaranteed replacements. One of them, Kounde. 4,400 minutes later, his body sounded pretty much the same as those of Balde and Lewandowski. Masía is incredible, but he can't cover up all the shortcomings in planning.