Inter Milan and Barcelona are just one step away from the UEFA Champions League final and will leave no stone unturned to book their spot at the Allianz Arena in Munich on 31st May when they face off at San Siro on Tuesday.
Both teams played out a high-octane first leg in Spain last week, surprising many with a six-goal thriller. Inter made a flying start, but the Catalan giants fought back well to ensure the tie remained level heading into the decisive second leg.
The home team were not at their best heading into the first leg as they had dropped points in the Serie A title race and were knocked out of the Coppa Italia; but they did put in a strong performance against Barcelona. Following that draw, they secured a 1-0 win over Hellas Verona in Serie A.
While it was not their best performance, the Nerazzurri did get the job done. Now, Simone Inzaghi’s men will be hoping to stun Barcelona and book a place in the final. Meanwhile, the visitors have their eyes set on a historic treble.
The Blaugrana have won the Copa del Rey and have a four-point advantage in the league. Their focus is now on ensuring they make it to the UEFA Champions League final. In their last outing post the draw against Inter, Barcelona secured a 2-1 comeback win over Real Valladolid to remain in the driving seat in La Liga.
While it wasn not their best performance, one would certainly expect Barcelona to bring their A game against the Serie A champions. The Hard Tackle takes a close look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could deploy.
While Simone Inzaghi would have loved to field the same XI that started in the first leg, he cannot go ahead with that as his skipper Lautaro Martinez is out with a hamstring injury. Benjamin Pavard joins him on the sidelines. They will certainly make wholesale changes to the XI that started against Hellas Verona, with all their first-team stars returning.
Against Barcelona, Inter Milan will line up in a 3-5-2 formation, where Yann Sommer will be in goal. Yann Aurel Bisseck, Francesco Acerbi and Alessandro Bastoni will form the back three. Denzel Dumfries and Federico Dimarco will feature as the wing-backs for the home team.
Nicolo Barella will start alongside Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the centre of the park. The trio will look to control the tempo of the game and ensure they do not allow Barcelona midfielders to dominate the proceedings. In the final third, the only forced change will be Marko Arnautović coming in for Martinez to partner with Marcus Thuram.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Arnautovic, Thuram
While Hansi Flick would have ideally stuck with the same XI just like Simone Inzaghi, even he does not have that luxury as Jules Kounde has joined Marc Casado and Marc Bernal on the sidelines.
Meanwhile, Barcelona do have a boost as Robert Lewandowski could be on the bench for this fixture. However, Alejandro Balde remains on the sidelines. Marc-Andre ter Stegen started in their last outing, but Wojciech Szczesny is expected to continue as their preferred choice in goal in these big fixtures.
They will stick to the 4-2-3-1 formation, where Szczesny will be in goal. Eric Garcia and Inigo Martinez could feature as the full-backs, while Ronald Araujo will partner with Pau Cubarsi in central defence.
Frenkie de Jong and Pedri should form the double pivot in the middle of the park. They will look to control the tempo of the game and ensure they dominate the ball. Dani Olmo will feature in that number ten role with Raphinha and Lamine Yamal on the flanks. Meanwhile, Ferran Torres will continue to lead the line for them.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Garcia, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martinez; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres
Barcelona were 2-0 down in the first leg in no time, and things were not really looking that bright for them when Yamal took it upon himself to get his team back into the thick of things. He cut inside from the right, breezed past a few defenders, and slotted it home from a very difficult angle to get his team back on track.
The 17-year-old has been doing similar stuff for Barcelona all season long, and he will certainly have all the limelight in the semi-final second leg. Yamal has 39 goal contributions (15 goals, 24 assists) so far, and it is hard to imagine him not having an impact on the end result of this tie.
With everything to play for at San Siro, expect a very cautious start from both teams as they look to avoid early damage. Inter Milan will bank on their strong home record in the UEFA Champions League and hope the passionate home crowd can spur them on.
Barcelona, however, head into this fixture with the momentum of a comeback in the first leg and the belief of a team chasing a historic treble. Hansi Flick’s men will be well aware of the challenge, but given the form they are in and the stakes at play, the Caalan giants might just edge this contest and secure their place in the final in Munich. The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-1 win for the away team.
