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The new UEFA Champions League season is underway, and two of last season’s finalists have started their campaigns in impressive fashion. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain and last season’s runners-up, Inter Milan, both secured big wins in their opening matches, sending a clear message to the rest of Europe. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain wasted no time in making a statement in their opening UEFA Champions League match, as they overpowered Atalanta with a commanding 4-0 victory at the Parc des Princes. The win serves as a powerful message that the French side is intent on replicating last season’s triumph, which culminated in a 5-0 thrashing of Inter in the final. PSG’s first goal came just 150 seconds into the match, when Marquinhos converted a pass from Nuno Mendes. The hosts’ high-pressing and fluid play is reflected in the stats. With 67 percent possession, they had a total of 22 shots, 13 of which were on target, while Atalanta managed to get only two shots on target from eight attempts. Mbappe’s double penalties lift 10-man Real Madrid past Marseille Despite a pair of superb saves from Atalanta’s Marco Carnesecchi and a missed penalty by Bradley Barcola, PSG’s attacking pressure never cooled down. This resulted in goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, and Gonçalo Ramos. Kvaratskhelia netted a wonderful solo goal before the break, while Mendes and Ramos added to the tally in the second half. The comprehensive performance demonstrated PSG’s team depth and ability to score from multiple sources, even with key players like Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue sidelined. Thuram’s brace powers Inter in Amsterdam Following their disappointing loss in last season’s final, Inter Milan kicked off their new Champions League campaign with a much-needed victory, defeating Ajax 2-0 away at the Johan Cruyff Arena. The win was a crucial step for the Italian side, who had been struggling with successive defeats in their domestic league. Marcus Thuram was the star of the night for Inter, scoring both goals with powerful headers. The French international proved to be a constant threat to the opponent. His two goals were almost carbon copies of each other, showcasing his strength and aerial prowess. For his first goal, he got ahead of the defenders near the goal to head in a corner kick from Hakan Calhanoglu just before halftime. He did it again just two minutes into the second half, heading in another corner from Calhanoglu. The victory was not only a confidence booster for the Inter players but also a display of tactical maturity. After securing the two-goal lead, Inter eased off the pressure, maintaining possession and frustrating the home side. The result sends a clear signal that Inter is ready to banish the ghosts of last season’s final and make a strong run in the competition.

Inter Milan has another Champions League final to look forward to. Once the players catch their breath, that is. In the end it took extra time, two astonishing comebacks and 13 goals to separate Barcelona and Inter and see the Italian club — which was a mere seconds away from elimination — prevail 7-6 on aggregate after winning another rollercoaster encounter 4-3 on Tuesday, AP reports. Substitute Davide Frattesi was the extra-time star for Inter, firing home in the 99th minute to leave the Barcelona players slumped to the ground while his Nerazzurri teammates — including those on the bench — were racing to celebrate with him. “I don’t know what happened tonight. I’m lucky I managed to finish the game, I screamed so much (in celebration) that I saw everything black,” Frattesi told Italian broadcaster Sky. Moments earlier, he'd been encouraging the already loud San Siro crowd to make more noise and the atmosphere grew more feverish after Frattesi delivered on his super-sub reputation again. “That’s part of my career," the midfielder said. “I wasn’t given so much incredible talent, but I am always the last one to give up and the first one to believe we can do it. At 3-3, I told Marcus (Thuram) that we would go through.” Three-time European champion Inter, which lost the 2023 final to Manchester City, will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31 for the title. PSG beat Arsenal 1-0 in London last week in their first match. The return leg is Wednesday in Paris. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi thinks his squad has shown in wins over Barcelona in the semis and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals that it can compete against the very best. “My players have been extraordinary, they've put out there two monstrous performances to get to this final,” he said. "We have to continue. The final will be played against a really great team, whether it's Arsenal or PSG. Barcelona and Bayern are probably the best teams in Europe at the moment, but it will still be difficult." Cristiano Ronaldo’s son gets first Portugal under-15 call-up There was little sign at halftime of the drama to play out. Inter was comfortably leading 2-0 after Lautaro Martínez scored and earned a penalty, which was converted by Hakan Çalhanoğlu. But Barcelona had been in that position before, having gone 2-0 down early last week in the first leg before securing a thrilling 3-3 draw. And Eric García scored nine minutes after the break before Dani Olmo headed in the equalizer six minutes later. Raphina appeared to have secured the win for Barcelona when he put the Spanish club ahead two minutes before full time, tucking away the rebound after Yann Sommer had saved his initial shot. However, 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi astonishingly leveled in stoppage time — with his first goal in European competition — to add another 30 minutes of time. Frattesi had proved crucial off the substitutes' bench before, both for Italy and Inter, and so he was again, controlling Mehdi Taremi's pass and beating Pau Cubarsí before curling past Wojciech Szczęsny. Barcelona almost leveled again but Sommer made a fingertip save to push Lamine Yamal's shot past his post. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he told his players “I know everyone is disappointed … but at the end we can be proud of our performance.” “I’m proud of my team," he said. "We have to accept it and we start again next season.”

Lamine Yamal’s curler that went in off the post after the teenager’s great dribble? Marcus Thuram’s nifty back-heeled flick? Raphinha’s missile that hit the bar and the goalkeeper before finding the net? And don’t forget Denzel Dumfries’ bicycle kick, before he scored again with a powerful header. You have your pick of great goals from Barcelona and Inter Milan’s thrilling 3-3 draw to start their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, setting up a must-see sequel next week in Milan. Opta Stats said it was joint-highest highest score for a draw in a Champions League semifinals since Bayern Munich and Dynamo Kiev finished with the same score in April 1999. What was supposed to be a contrast of styles between the top-scoring Barcelona and the stingiest defense in the competition turned into a shootout. “We saw a fantastic match and we knew that semifinals are difficult. We could even have won,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “Our fans know that we’ve been giving our utmost in difficult times and we know that Tuesday will be a ‘final.’” Thuram flicks Inter ahead Inter matched Barcelona’s firepower with two goals from corner kicks, and the hosts needed another stellar performance from 17-year-old Yamal in his 100th appearance for his club. Except for Inter’s start and strength in set pieces, Barcelona imposed its game and had 66% possession and created 10 shots on goal to Inter’s three, according to UEFA’s stats — but had to settle for a draw. Barcelona’s attack meets Inter defence in UCL semifinals Thuram was a doubt for the starting 11 after missing Inter’s previous three matches — all losses without a goal. But the striker used the back of his heel to turn in a cross by Dumfries to stun the hosts just seconds after kickoff. Dumfries then put Inter into what appeared to be a comfortable lead when he scored his first of two goals with a bicycle kick after a corner kick was headed onto him in the 21st. Yamal takes over Yamal sparked Barcelona into action in the 24th when he dribbled past two defenders and sliced a shot in off the far post. He went close to an equalizer moments later after gliding down the endline and firing a shot with just a sliver off an angle off the crossbar. “Yamal is a fantastic player, in the big matches you can see his quality, and he showed it today,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said about his forward. “At 2-0 down,” he continued, “I knew that this was a semifinal between great clubs and I knew that the huge experience they have was being demonstrated. They are good at set plays too, but Lamine showed us the way forward. His goal to make it 2-1 was so important.” Ferran Torres rammed in a headed pass by Raphinha to equalize for Barcelona in the 38th.    

Strange things happen when Inter Milan plays Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals. The last time the two teams met in the final four of Europe’s elite club competition, in 2010, Barcelona had to make a 15-hour journey by bus to Milan after an ash cloud caused by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull shut down air space, AP reports. Barcelona lost that first leg 3-1 and a stout defensive performance by Inter in the return match saw it advance to the final 3-2 on aggregate — where it beat Bayern Munich to clinch a historic treble under Jose Mourinho. Inter is hoping it won't have to make a similarly arduous journey after an unprecedented blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill Monday. Power had almost fully returned to Spain early Tuesday morning and Inter’s charter flight was still scheduled to take off for Barcelona at 5 p.m. local time ahead of the first leg of their semifinal on Wednesday. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi will be hoping his team can power back up for the game as well. Inter heads to Barcelona following a dire run of results that has seen its dreams of another treble evaporate. Barcelona targets European title hat trick after winning UEFA Youth League final For the first time in more than 13 years, Inter has lost three straight matches without scoring a goal. Since a 2-2 draw against Bayern in the Champions League quarterfinals, the Nerazzurri have lost 1-0 to both Bologna and Roma in Serie A and 3-0 to AC Milan in the second leg of their Italian Cup semifinal. That has also seen them been leapfrogged at the top of the Serie A table by Napoli, slipping three points behind the new league leader. “The three defeats hurt and we’re not used to this, we have to look at ourselves and try to recover our physical and mental energy,” Inzaghi said. Those three games, however, had something in common: Marcus Thuram was missing. Thuram, who has been out with a left thigh issue, has scored 17 goals and provided nine assists across all competitions for Inter this season. Without the France forward, Lautaro Martinez has appeared fatigued attempting to carry Inter’s attack. And Marko Arnautovic, Thuram’s replacement, has been ineffective. Thuram has returned to training and could even start on Wednesday. “We’ll head to Barcelona and we will play them with respect, not fear,” Inzaghi added.

A busy few days in the transfer market continued for Inter Milan as the Nerazzurri completed the signing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Serie A rival Roma. Inter registered Mkhitaryan’s contract with the league’s governing body on Friday and also did so for 26-year-old Cameroon goalkeeper André Onana, who joins from Ajax. Both have signed as free agents. Mkhitaryan spent the past three seasons at Roma after spells in England with Manchester United and Arsenal. The 33-year-old Armenia midfielder made more than 100 appearances for Roma and helped it win the Europa Conference league last season. The deals come two days after Romelu Lukaku returned to Inter, which also signed Kristjan Asllani on loan from Empoli. Read: Juventus to Face Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia Final 2022 Inter is bidding to regain the Serie A title which it lost last season to bitter rival AC Milan.

Romelu Lukaku scored two goals and set up another as Inter Milan beat relegation-threatened Genoa 4-0 on Saturday to move level on points with Juventus at the top of the Serie A table heading into the winter break.