Champions League: Barcelona vs. Inter Milan Preview

Barcelona will try to boost their hopes for avoiding successive Champions League group exits when they host Inter Milan at Camp Nou on Wednesday night.

The Catalonians currently occupy third place in Group C with three points less than their impending opponents Inter Milan.

The visitors had picked up a crucial 1-0 victory over Barca last week.

Replicating that result will make them favourites to progress to the next stage of the competition.

The memory of Europa League demotion from the Champions League group stages is still fresh in the minds of Barcelona fans.

Xavi’s men had finished third in their Champions League group last season. Their prospects of playing Champions League knockout stage football this season appear grim at the moment as they amassed only three points from their first games.

A win against Inter tonight will take the pressure off significantly from the Blaugrana as it will make them level on points with the Seria A giants.

La Liga form

Barcelona will draw confidence from their record at Camp Nou, where they did not lose a game in five months.

With 22 points under their belt, Barcelona sit atop the La Liga table.

They have an El Clásico meeting with Real Madrid this weekend, which could potentially send them three points clear at the top. But Barcelona should be more focused on the Inter game, as a defeat will push them to the brink of Europa League exile.

Barca will go into the tie on the back of a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo on Sunday night, which extended their winning run in La Liga to seven.

Inter will fancy their chances

Inter Milan had taken on Barcelona last week under difficult circumstances.

They had suffered back-to-back losses against Udinese and Roma to face the five time Champions League winners. But, the Nerazzurri brushed aside their recent poor performances to claim a crucial victory against Barcelona.

Inter started their Champions League campaign with a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich.

They bounced back with two successive victories against Viktoria Plzeň and Barcelona to climb to the second position of the group with six points.

Inter had lost in their last trip to Camp Nou in 2019/20, but they will feel more optimistic knowing Barcelona have lost three of their last six Champions League home matches.

Simone Inzaghi’s men arrested their Serie A slump with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Saturday.

Veteran Edin Džeko bagged a brace as Inter broke into the top seven in the Seria A points table with 15 points.

Team news

Xavi has a long list of injuries to deal with before Inter’s visit to Camp Nou.

Frenkie de Jong and Franck Kessie will return to the fold, but Andreas Christensen, Jules Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Héctor Bellerín, and Memphis Depay are still on the sidelines.

Ousmane Dembélé,  Sergi Roberto, Eric García, and Ansu Fati will return to the starting XI. All of them were on bench in the Celta Vigo game.

Inter have their injury worries as well.

Alex Cordaz, Joaquin Correa, Dalbert, Marcelo Brozović, and Gabriel Brazão will not make it to the travelling contingent.

Romelu Lukaku might be fit enough to make it to the squad after recovering from a muscle injury. But a starting role seems unlikely as Edin Džeko and Lautaro Martinez are set to spearhead the attack.

Prediction

Losing is not an option for Barca in this game.

Even a draw will hurt their qualification hopes significantly.

So, they will go all out for a win.

It will be an evenly fought affair, but we believe Barcelona will prevail at home. Our expectation is a 2-1 victory for the hosts.