Barcelona vs Inter Milan

Simone Inzaghi’s Inter side, known for being tough to break down, have lost just twice in their last 20 Champions League outings. As Inzaghi prepares for his 50th match in Europe’s premier competition, he becomes only the seventh Italian coach to reach that mark—yet none of the others boast his impressive tally of 26 wins.

While Inter may not match Barcelona’s offensive output—scoring 19 goals to Barca’s 37—their strength lies in their solid defense. They’ve conceded only five times in the tournament so far and have recorded eight clean sheets.

That said, signs of fatigue may be creeping in. Inter were thrashed 3-0 by rivals AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semi-final last week, their fifth failure to beat the Rossoneri this season. That loss came on the back of a last-minute Serie A defeat to Bologna, which ended their 13-match unbeaten run.

Their struggles continued on Sunday with a 1-0 home loss to Roma—making it three consecutive defeats without scoring. That result dropped them three points behind league leaders Napoli with just four matches left, putting their title defense in serious jeopardy.

Before shifting focus back to the domestic title race with a clash against Hellas Verona, Inter must regroup and rediscover the defensive resolve that has defined their Champions League campaign, especially with Barcelona’s high-powered attack looming.

During home competitions the Catalan club accumulated five victories and attained one draw with a total of 21 goals. The Flick team managed to score three additional goals on Saturday evening to emerge victorious in the intense Copa del Rey 'El Clasico' final.

The game eventually ended in a five-goal spectacle when Jules Kounde netted his team's fourth goal to help Barcelona reach their historic 32nd domestic cup victory after 116 minutes.

Barcelona needs to produce another victory on Wednesday because Inter Milan have maintained an unbroken streak of success in their previous 15 Champions League home matches.

The Spanish teams have suffered two consecutive group stage losses and one previous semifinal defeat when playing against each other.

The two clubs faced each other twelve times in Champions League matches, with Barcelona holding a winning record of six matches but Inter secured their most important triumph when they advanced 3-2 to win the 2010 final under Jose Mourinho.

The team became European champions for the third time during 2010 prior to finishing as runners-up behind Manchester City in 2023 and now aims to advance one position higher in the competition.

Inter reached the Champions League last 32 by earning 19 points like Barcelona in the domestic league phase and by winning both their rounds against Feyenoord while breaking Bayern Munich's hopes of advancing to their home stadium final.

Frattesi scored a late winner in Munich which created an intense second leg at San Siro that ended in a 2-2 tie while Inter claimed their progress through a competitive quarter-final.