Inter 1-1 Barcelona: Messi watches Real target Icardi grab equaliser

Inter 1-1 Barcelona: Lionel Messi watches Real Madrid target Mauro Icardi grab late equaliser after sub Malcom had fired visitors ahead

Malcom went from misfit to man of the moment for Barcelona but his second half strike could not kill off stubborn Inter who levelled with three minutes left through Mauro Icardi.

Malcom has hardly featured this season since signing in the summer but after being brought on on 81 minutes he took just over a minute to rifle a shot under the body of Samir Handanovic after brilliant work from Philippe Coutinho.

The game looked won and Barca would have been through as group leaders but Icardi finished clinically. He had hardly touched the ball all night but he made it count when he did.

Malcom opened the scoring for Barcelona with a fine run and shot in the 83rd minute

Malcom was clearly overcome after scoring for Barca following a difficult few months in Spain

Malcom was mobbed by the Barca bench when he scored. He has suffered since his arrival and Brazilian team-mate Arthur Melo was first to embrace him by the corner flag.

Tottenham’s win means this result is not enough to send Barcelona through mathematically. Inter’s late goal means their fate is very much in their own hands to finish second.

Barcelona should have been long out of sight but after scoring five goals in his last two games Luis Suarez missed three first half chances and is still without a Champions League goal away from home since September 2015.

Lionel Messi wasn’t named in the squad despite making a swift recovery from a broken arm

Suarez was his usual mix of fire and frustration. He has stepped up in Messi’s absence of late.

Some of his early passes went astray but he was quick to get shots away whenever there was space. He shot over from one Ivan Rakitic pass and he lobbed just wide after controlling one loose ball with his face.

He was then set up by Gerard Pique but pulled his shot wide. He was desperate to put Barca and Messi, watching in the stands, into the next phase.

Ousmane Dembele has an effort on goal in the first-haf against Inter on Tuesday night

Alongside him Coutinho was back in the Giuseppe Meazza stadium. He spent three years at Inter with five different coaches and one loan spell in La Liga with Espanyol. He had Barcelona’s fourth first half chance but his shot was saved by Samir Handanovic.

The rain eased in the second half but the frantic pace remained. Both teams played as if their Champions Leagues futures depended on a win. Suarez finally got the ball past Handanovic but the official on the line ruled the goal out because the ball had gone out before Rakitic crossed. Suarez was incandescent for a second raging into the face of the official.

Inter were still chasing pink shirts but they were growing in confidence and Matteo Politano should have given them the lead but headed Ivan Perisic’s cross wide.

It looked as if they would pay dearly for squandering their biggest chance of the night when Malcom climbed off the bench to score but Icardi had other ideas to level with his third Champions League goal of the season. 

Philippe Coutinho was  constant threat and set up Malcom for the opening goal

Luis Suarez missed three first half chances on a frustrating night for the Barcelona forward

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