Inter will host Barcelona on Tuesday for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals in San Siro. The two sides drew 3-3 on April 30 in Barcelona in one of the most exciting and eventful games in the recent years. The two sides played some incredible football, with the guests scoring two goals in the first 22 minutes with the early goal of Marcus Thuram and the second one of Denzel Dumfries, before the stunning solo play and goal of Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal. Before halftime, Ferran Torres scored to make it 2-2 and levelled the first leg of this semifinal, but then the second half didn’t disappoint at all. Inter scored their third goal of the night with Dumfries again, before the unfortunate 3-3, an own goal from goalkeeper Yann Sommer after the strike of Raphinha from outside the box ricocheted off of Summer’s hands, off the post and back into Summer’s back before finally dropping in the net. Despite the excellent first leg in Barcelona, both sides still need to win the second leg in Milan to advance to the final that will take place in Munich on May 31, and everything will be decided over the 90 minutes, or even more, that will happen on Tuesday in Milan before the other semifinal between PSG and Arsenal that will take place on Wednesday. Here are storylines, how you can watch the match and more.
Champions League expert picks, predictions: Can Inter top Barcelona at home? Arsenal aim for comeback vs. PSG
Pardeep Cattry
How to watch Inter vs. Barcelona and odds
Last meeting before the first leg
The last time both teams met before last week was during the 2022-23 group stage, the same season Inter reached the Istanbul final and lost to Manchester City. Inter’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu scored the only goal in added time at the end of the first half at San Siro on Matchday 3, before a six-goal thriller at the Camp Nou. Ousmane Dembele’s 40th-minute opener for Barca was turned around by Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez. Robert Lewandowski made it 2-2 eight minutes from time, Robin Gosens’ 89th-minute strike looked to have given the visitors victory only for Lewandowski to level again two minutes into added time.
Their most notable meeting, however, was when Barcelona and Inter met in the 2010 Champions League semifinals.
FC Barcelona vs. Inter: What happened in 2010, the last time these teams played in Champions League semifinals
Francesco Porzio
The road to the semifinals
Barcelona were one of the best teams of the league phase as the team coached by Hansi Flick ended up second in the standings with 19 points in eight games (six wins, one draw on the last matchday against Atalanta and one defeat). Before facing and knocking out Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals, FC Barcelona managed to beat Benfica (4-1 on aggregate). Inter, on the other hand, had a successful league phase, ending up fourth with six wins, one draw, and only one defeat against Bayer Leverkusen away. Inter beat Feyenoord in the round of 16 of the tournament, after the Dutch team knocked out AC Milan in the playoffs before knocking out German giants Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals (4-3 on aggregate).
What Inter are saying
Inter manager Simone Inzaghi gave some updates ahead of the semifinal in the press-conference on Monday: “Both Lautaro and Pavard have huge motivation, but we’ll have to evaluate how they’re doing. Lautaro has been out for a week. We’ll evaluate tomorrow what the best decision to make is. Tuesday’s game can be a turning point for us, it could bring us to the final. We’ll play it with desire, strength, and aggression. Playing in front of our fans will give us something extra, it’s like a final for us.”
What Barcelona are saying
German manager Hansi Flick spoke about the chance to see Lewandowski starting on Tuesday: “I think it might be better for Robert Lewandowski to start on the bench after his injury, but he’s ready. We will see if he can start against Real Madrid. When we started the season, nobody had any idea what we’d achieve up to now. We want to enjoy playing football and we want the fans to enjoy it.”
Predicted lineups
Inter XI: Yann Sommer; Yann Bisseck, Francesco Acerbi, Alessandro Bastoni; Denzel Dumfries, Nicolo Barella, Hakan Calhanoglu, Henrix Mkhitaryan, Federico Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram.
FC Barcelona XI: Wojciech Szczesny, Eric Garcia, Ronald Araujo, Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha, Ferran Torres.
Player to watch
Lamine Yamal, Barcelona — The Spanish wonderkid was outstanding in the first leg in Barcelona, and showed once again why he can be considered as one of the best players in the world and already a strong candidate for the 2025 Ballon d’Or win. In the first leg, it seemed nobody could really stop him, and if he keeps doing that in Tuesday’s semifinal there is nothing Inter defenders can do to contain his talent.
Storyline to watch
Will the two main strikers be fit? Both Inzaghi and Flick are dealing with some last minute decisions due to injuries. The Nerazzurri’s captain, Martinez, was forced to come off at halftime of the first leg due to a muscular injury, but he’s surprisingly set to make an incredibly quick comeback ahead of the second leg, but is still in doubt to start, same as French defender Benjamin Pavard who didn’t train with the team on Monday in the last full training before the semifinal, unlike the Argentinian striker who was partially training with his teammates. Barcelona have similar issues, as Alejandro Balde couldn’t make the comeback in the team on time and hasn’t made it into the squad list ahead of the game, but Flick will have their main striker Robert Lewandowski available again.
Prediction
It will definitely be a close one also in the second leg in Milan, after the first leg played last week that ended with a 3-3 draw. Pick: Inter 2, Barcelona 2 (5-4 after penalties).
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