Serie A leaders Inter have a last chance to advance to the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, but the result that they need would be a win over LaLiga leaders Barcelona at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan on Tuesday evening. Barcelona won the reverse fixture 2-1 in October, Inter opened the scoring after just three minutes through Lautaro Martinez and Barca fought back with a double from Luis Suarez. Overall, Barcelona have won 5 of the nine matches against Inter, while the Nerazzurri won just once, in 2010.
Inter have been doing quite well lately, they are now at the top of the table in Serie A and also have a reasonable chance of pulling through in the UEFA Champions League. They are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions, including last week's goalless draw against Roma in Serie A. In the Champions League they are tied on seven points with Dortmund, who play at home against Slavia Prague. Inter need to get at least the same result that Dortmund get against Slavia to qualify, and in theory that result would be a win. Alexis Sanchez, Stefano Sensi, Nicolo Barella and Roberto Gagliardini are injured for the home side.
Barcelona have already secured their place in the last sixteen, and they are also sure of finishing at the top of the group table. This situation gives head coach Ernesto Valverde the chance to rest some of his key players ahead of next weekend's match in LaLiga, and he will most likely take that chance. Last weekend Barcelona defeated Mallorca 5-2 in LaLiga, securing their fifth consecutive win in all competitions. Ousmane Dembele, Nelson Semedo, Jordi Alba and Artur are all injured for the Blaugrana, while Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez will most likely be rested by Valverde.
Probable line-ups:
Inter: Handanovic - Godin, De Vrij, Skriniar - D'Ambrosio, Valero, Brozovic, Vecino, Biraghi - Martinez, Lukaku
Barcelona: Ter Stegen - Roberto, Umtiti, Lenglet, Firpo - Vidal, De Jong, Rakitic - Perez, Griezmann, Fati
My prediction:
Barcelona don't have anything to play for in this match, and that will most likely allow Inter to grab a 1-0 victory and advance to the next round.
Here are the odds for the match at NetBet:
Inter win - 1.56
Draw - 4.75
Barcelona win - 5.30
Dzile10
4 years ago
This defeat was very hard for Inter, Barcelona was too strong for them without their key players.
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