The Dutchman was directly involved in all of the Nerazzurri's goals as they claimed a fully deserved draw in Catalunya

Denzel Dumfries almost singlehandedly kept Inter's season alive in Barcelona on Wednesday, with the Dutchman scoring two goals and creating another in an extraordinary 3-3 draw at Montjuic.

The Nerazzurri had gone into this eagerly-awaited Champions League semi-final first leg on the back of three consecutive defeats that saw them replaced by Napoli at the top of Serie A, and dumped out of the Coppa Italia by city rivals AC Milan. Consequently, many fans feared the worst for Simone Inzaghi's side against Europe's form team.

However, Inter raced into a 2-0 lead thanks in no small part to Dumfries, who was making his first start for a month due to injury. The wing-back crossed for the fit-again Marcus Thuram to open the scoring with a stunning back-heeled finish before Dumfries doubled the visitors' advantage himself with a sensational scissors-kick.

Barca were level by the break, however, thanks to the irrepressible Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, who did a fine job filling in for Robert Lewandowski, but Dumfries put Inter back in front when he climbed highest to head home a Hakan Calhanoglou corner midway through the second half.

The Blaugrana drew level almost immediately when Yann Sommer unwittingly deflected Raphinha's thumping drive into his own net, but Inter held on quite comfortably to ensure that a win of any variety of San Siro next week will send them through to their second final in three years.

Below, GOAL rates all of the Inter players on show at Monjuic as Dumfries did the impossible by upstaging Yamal!

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Yann Sommer (6.5/10):

Absolutely nothing the Switzerland international could have done about any of the goals he conceded, and the third was particularly cruel. Still, deserves credit for one sensational fingertip save from Yamal.

Yann Bisseck (5/10):

Drafted into the starting line-up in place of the injured Pavard, whose experience was badly missed. Completely lost Raphinha on Barca's second goal.

Francesco Acerbi (6.5/10):

Played a crucial role in Dumfries' stunning strike by rising highest to meet Dimarco's corner, but the veteran defender later allowed Ferran to steal in behind him to level the game from Raphinha's knockdown, which Acerbi didn't read at all. Still, Inter wouldn't have got a draw without his grit in defence.

Alessandro Bastoni (6.5/10):

Saw plenty of the ball and won a lot of duels, but could have done a lot more to help Dimarco contain Yamal.

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Denzel Dumfries (9.5/10):

An absolutely sensational performance! Dumfries caused Inter problems every single time he got forward and ended the game with two goals and an assist – an incredible haul for a wing-back.

Nicolo Barella (7/10):

The one Inter midfielder that didn't look out of his depth, Barella was always willing to take players on and exploit the space in behind Barca's backline – which he did to excellent effect on the lead-up to Thuram's opener.

Hakan Calhanoglou (3/10):

A dreadful display from the Turkey international. He's meant to be one of Inter's best passers, but he constantly gave the ball away. Hakan killed any hope Inter had of gaining even a semblance of control of the game and presumably he was only kept on for more than an hour for his set-piece prowess.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (5/10):

Worked hard and was one of the few Inter players to retain possession well, but it has to be said that he failed miserably to even attempt to tackle Yamal before the wonderkid's goal.

Federico Dimarco (3/10):

The fear was all along that this would be the worst possible game for a player in poor form, and so it proved, with Dimarco repeatedly turned inside-out by Yamal. Frustratingly for Inter, the Italy international also failed to offer anything offensively before being mercifully hooked.

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Lautaro Martinez (6/10):

The Argentine's header sparked the brilliant attack that led to Inter breaking the deadlock, but picked up a knock just before the interval and didn't re-emerge for the second half. A major blow for Inter on the night and a serious concern ahead of the second leg.

Marcus Thuram (8/10):

The Frenchman marked his return to the starting line-up with a wonderful back-heeled finish inside the first minute. Proved a constant thorn in Barca's side for the remainder of the game and ran himself into the ground before being hauled off.

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Mehdi Taremi (5/10):

Replaced the injured Lautaro in attack but offered zero attacking threat, which was utterly unsurprising given how poor he's been this season.

Carlos Augusto (5.5/10):

Did better on the left-hand side than the man he replaced early in the second half, Dimarco, but that's not saying much.

Davide Frattesi (6/10):

Came on in midfield for Hakan and at least brought a little more energy to the party.

Piotr Zielinski (N/A):

Only thrown on in place of an exhausted Thuram for the final 10 minutes.

Matteo Darmian (N/A):

Took over on the right flank from Player of the Match Dumfries late on.

Simone Inzaghi (7/10):

Played his strongest, most offensive line-up and was rewarded for his bravery with three goals. Inzaghi will be very unhappy with some of his team's defending, but he'll take enormous encouragement out of the fact that his struggling side looked the game's more likely winners in the final quarter.