Barcelona welcome Inter Milan to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Wednesday night.
Hansi Flick’s hosts are currently the bookmakers’ favourites to conquer the continent for the first time in a decade.
The Catalan giants placed second in the league phase before brushing aside both Benfica and Borussia Dortmund to take their place in the last four.
Barcelona will come into this clash on cloud nine after clinching the first leg of a potential treble after defeating fierce rivals Real Madrid 3–2 in a thrilling Copa del Rey final on Saturday night.
As for Inter Milan, they will have to lift themselves up off the canvas after their Serie A title hopes suffered a major blow when losing 1-0 at home to Roma on Sunday.
That being said, Simone Inzaghi’s side – who got the better of Bayern Munich in the previous round – certainly won’t be fazed by the task in hand on Wednesday night.
The two teams have become familiar foes in the Champions League in recent years, having been housed in the same group across five of the last six seasons. It’s Barcelona who boast the stronger head-to-head-record, winning six of the overall 12 meetings, while losing just twice.
Predicted line-ups
Barcelona will once again be without star striker Robert Lewandowski, while Alejandro Balde, Marc Bernal, Marc Casado are also injured.
Alessandro Bastoni and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are expected to be restored to the Inter starting XI after missing out against Roma on Sunday due to suspension, however Marcus Thuram is ruled out through injury.
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres.
Inter: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Taremi.
