When reincarnating as David Beckham isn't enough: Inter-Barça hot takes

BarcelonaBarça won't be playing in the Champions League final. Not this one. A narrow 4-3 defeat after extra time puts an end to Hansi Flick's men's journey to the top continental competition. But it doesn't matter. The significance of these last few months of competition goes far beyond that. Everything hurts now, but time will tell. Here are some quick notes.

Nothing happens.We've written it on several occasions, and we stand by it: Barça, this season, has already won. Reaching the Champions League final and dreaming of the treble was a precious goal for this generation of shameless Barça fans, but not even the most optimistic Barça fan, President Laporta, had put it on the table. If it's been talked about, it's because of the overwhelming enthusiasm that the troops commanded by Flick and championed by Lamine Yamal have been instilling in Barcelona fans for months. This is precisely what needs to be taken away from this campaign, which, so far, has been adorned with a Super Cup and a Copa del Rey win right on Real Madrid's face. Falling in the European semis against Inzaghi's experienced Inter was plausible and is disappointing, but the excellent form at the end of the season must remain intact. Whoever fails, whoever fails.

Beware of the Madrid hyenas. A miscalculation by Araujo in the early stages of extra time led to Frattesis' final 4-3. The Uruguayan was once again the subject of a poor night, demonstrating how the yellow card that forced Flick to send the imperial Iñigo off the field was a welcome change. Now it's the German coach's job to raise his pupils' spirits so they don't let a La Liga title slip away, one that Madrid will want to seize like an expert scavenger. Sunday's Clásico is even more dangerous, after 120 minutes of extreme exhaustion in the rain and controversial, home-style refereeing at the Meazza Stadium by someone who is said to be the best referee in the world. Hey, and if we lose the La Liga title, hold our heads high. We insist: this Barça has already won. We need to keep our lights on.

Gerard Martín, you. Just two years ago he was competing in Cornellà and He went to college in his grandfather's battered carAt the end of that season, Barça signed him for the reserve team, and there, under Márquez, he became indispensable. The club's financial difficulties forced Flick to promote him to the first team, where he has emerged as a replacement for the injured Balde in the final stretch of the season. Criticized for his lack of touch with the ball, Martín recovered from Meazza with two crosses worthy of the best Beckham to turn around the 2-0 deficit that, at the start of the second half, had almost sealed the victory for Barcelona. His is another of the beautiful (and somewhat delirious) stories of this team. Up there with that of the retired smoker Szczęsny or Eric Garcia, who was on the verge of returning to Girona in the winter. Not even in the mind of the best screenwriter.

A night that will last for years. After Gerard Martín's two magical strikes, Barça smelled Inter's blood and fear, and they sank them into their own half. It was only a matter of time before Flick's men breached Sommer's net for the third time and booked their tickets to Munich. They didn't even need to send the ball to Lewandowski, who only came on when qualification already seemed a foregone conclusion after Raphinha's goal in the 88th minute. We'd seen the same story at Da Luz, the Metropolitano, or La Cartuja. This uninhibited Barça overcomes the toughest situations. But we hadn't counted on the delirium that Acerbi, a center back the age of a former player, would bring about extra time. Another 30 minutes were a feast for the eyes, even for Lamine Yamal, who, even so, demanded a great performance from Sommer to try to take the tie to penalties. They've lost, but they can continue eating lollipops and humiliating their opponents.