Barcelona aim to save their UCL credentials as they welcome Inter to the Spotify Camp Nou.
It's a really crucial week for FC Barcelona, as they look to salvage their chances of UCL qualification after failing to win at the San Siro in a game riddled with controversies. Save for their opening victory against Viktoria Plzen, they have lost their other two games, and anything other than a win here will spell doom for the Catalans.
Domestically, Barcelona has faced little problems, even though their last outing saw them escape with a narrow win (and another clean sheet) against Celta Vigo at the Camp Nou. Their record domestically remains impeccable, and they'll hope it translates to tomorrow's Champions League game and continues with the El Clasico looming next weekend.
Their opponents, Inter, are hardly a great team themselves, evidenced by their struggles in Serie A, but they followed their controversial win over Barcelona last week with a 2-1 win over Sassuolo during the weekend, courtesy of an Edin Dzeko double. A draw is enough to put them in a strong position to qualify, and they'll be well aware of how to frustrate their Spanish opponents to ensure at least that.
INTERESTING STATS
- Xavi Hernandez’s side are on a run of four successive wins at home.
- Barça have won their last 6 home matches against Inter in all competitions, and have scored at least two goals in 5 of those encounters.
- The hosts’ defeat to Inter on Matchday 3 was only their second defeat against them in 11 UEFA Champions League games (W6 D3 L2).
-Barcelona have only lost once in the last 17 games they have hosted an Italian side in the UEFA Champions League (W13 D3).
- Inter’s last UEFA Champions League away win over a Spanish team came in October 2004, when they won 5-1 at Valencia. Since then, they have lost seven of their previous eight such games (D1).
Last Five meetings
4/10/22 Inter 1-0 Barcelona
10/12/20 Inter 1-2 Barcelona
2/10/20 Barcelona 2-1 Inter
6/11/18 Inter 1-1 Barcelona
24/10/18 Barcelona 2-0 Inter
TEAM NEWS
Barcelona
Franck Kessie and Frenkie DeJong have recovered in time for this game, giving Xavi more options and profiles in midfield, depending on the state of the match. Jules Kounde was thought to have recovered in time but was subsequently left out. Araujo, Bellerín, Christensen and Depay remain sidelined.
Xavi's team selection against Celta Vigo showed that he had this game in mind. Eric Garcia, Sergi Roberto and Dembele all came from the bench against the team from Balaidos, so we should expect them in the starting lineup. Regarding the two forwards who will star beside Robert Lewandowski, your guess is as good as mine.
Inter
Inzaghi will be remain without Marcelo Brozovic, Joaquin Correa, Dalbert, Alex Cordaz, and Gabriel Brazao. Romelu Lukaku is not expected to start but could feature sometime during the game. This means Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez will partner up in front of a 5 man midfield and 3 man defense, just like last time out.
Andre Onana is expected to be the shot stopper once again for this one, returning to the home of his former employers.
Where and when are Barcelona vs Inter playing?
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Stadium: Spotify Camp Nou
Date: Wednesday 12 October
Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST / 12:00 PST
VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
CONCLUSION
It's all or nothing for Barcelona, who must win in order to stand a chance at qualification. Even though they've been hurt defensively through injuries, the overall quality is still there, and provided they're clinical enough, without much controversy from the referees, they should be able to get over the line against a stubborn Nerazzuri who are sure to be ultra defensive for most of this game.
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