Raphinha surpasses Messi to close in on Ronaldo’s record 

Barcelona and Inter Milan shared a compelling 3-3 draw in a high-octane Champions League semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday, with teenage star Lamine Yamal shining bright. The Italian side raced into a two-goal lead with superb strikes from Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries, before the unstoppable Yamal pulled Barca back into it with a sublime solo effort. Ferran Torres levelled for the five-time champions, and although Inter nosed ahead through Dumfries again, a Yann Sommer own goal -- that only came after Raphinha's effort cannoned off the crossbar and into the net off the back of a helpless Sommer -- left the tie on a knife-edge at the halfway stage.

Here we present some exciting stats from the enthralling contest: 

• Raphinha's assist to Ferran Torres meant the Brazilian moved to 20 goal involvements (12 goals and eight assists) in the Champions League this season, the second most by any player in a single campaign after Cristiano Ronaldo's 21 (17 goals and four assists) in 2013-14.
• It also meant Raphinha surpassed Lionel Messi, who previously held the record for most goal involvements by a Barcelona player in the Champions League. Messi recorded 19 goal involvements (14 goals and five assists) in the 2011-2012 season. 
• Only Luis Figo (nine in 1999-2000) has ever registered more assists in a season in the history of the Champions League than Raphinha (eight) has in 2024-25.
• Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal became just the second teenager to score in the last 16, quarterfinal, and semifinal within a single Champions League campaign after Kylian Mbappe for Monaco in 2016-17.
• Yamal (17y & 291d) became the youngest ever scorer in a Champions League semifinal, a record previously held by Mbappe (18y & 140d).
• This was Yamal's 100th Barcelona appearance, and he became the second-youngest player to start a Champions League semifinal after Julian Draxler (17y & 226d) for Schalke against Manchester United in 2010-11.
• This was the joint-highest score draw in a Champions League semifinal game alongside a 3-3 draw between Dynamo Kyiv and Bayern Munich in the first leg back in 1998-99.
• Marcus Thuram's goal in 30 seconds is now the quickest semifinal goal in the history of the Champions League.
• Inter came into the game having failed to score in three games – each of which they lost – since the second leg of their quarterfinal against Bayern Munich. In that time, they had gone a total of 299 minutes without scoring a single goal.
• This was just the third time Inter have failed to win a Champions League game having led by 2+ goals, after a 3-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund in November 2019 and a 3-3 draw with Benfica in April 2023.