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Champions League Preview: Inter - Barcelona
This could be the most tactical match of the season.
Apr 19, 2010 10:00:00 AM
By Subhankar Mondal
Kick-Off: Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 20:45 CET.
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy.
The Historic Treble
At the weekend Inter midfielder Wesley Sneijder urged his team to carry on chasing the dream of a historic treble. After round 34 of Serie A was completed, the Nerazzurri slipped back to second in the league table, but they are in the final of the Coppa Italia and take on Barcelona in the first leg of the Champions League sem-final.
Inter's progress to the last four of Europe's top tier club competition has been far from easy. They struggled in the group stages and actually played like an away side against Barcelona at San Siro. However, since the start of the knockout stages Jose Mourinho's side have been hugely impressive, and after convincingly defeating Chelsea in the last 16, they got the better of CSKA Moscow over two legs in the quarter-finals.
Inter's Champions League foray has taken a toll on their league campaign but the Beneamata still have a good chance of winning the Scudetto. However, club supremo Massimo Moratti will be keen to see his side progress to the Champions League final and for that to happen the Italian champions will have to get a result on Tuesday night.
Inter coach Jose Mourinho will also become the first coach, along with Bayern Munich trainer Louis Van Gaal, to guide teams to Champions League semi-finals at three different clubs, following his achievements with Porto and Chelsea.
Familiar Territory
The last time Barcelona came to Milan they played like the home side and were held to a 0-0 draw by Inter. That was in the group stage of the Champions League earlier this campaign. In the return fixture, the Blaugrana taught the Italian champions a footballing lesson as they defeated them 2-0 at Camp Nou in a game that exposed the greatness of the Catalans and the (then) weaknesses of the Italians.
Since then Barcelona have gone from strength to strength and Lionel Messi's imperious performance against Arsenal in the second leg of the quarter-final tie at Camp Nou was hailed in many quarters as the best individual performance in Europe since the turn of the century.
However, Pep Guardiola's side failed to score on Saturday evening in the Primera Division in Spain. Espanyol clogged the midfield with bodies and thwarted the all-consuming, all-conquering Barca side from scoring. This might suggest that the reigning Spanish and European champions cannot score in all games, but one must remember that the Blaugrana have some of the world's best players.
Coach Guardiola will be wary that Inter have improved massively in Europe since the last time the two sides met and that with Andres Iniesta absent he might have to change his tactics a bit.
FORM GUIDE
Inter
April 16 v Juventus (H) - WON 2-0 (Serie A)
April 13 v Fiorentina (A) - WON 1-0 (Coppa Italia)
April 10 v Fiorentina (A) - DREW 2-2 (Serie A)
Inter
April 16 v Juventus (H) - WON 2-0 (Serie A)
April 13 v Fiorentina (A) - WON 1-0 (Coppa Italia)
April 10 v Fiorentina (A) - DREW 2-2 (Serie A)
April 6 v CSKA Moscow (A) - WON 1-0 (Champions League)
April 3 v Bologna (H) - WON 3-0 (Serie A)
Barcelona
April 17 v Espanyol (A) - DREW 0-0 (La Liga)
April 14 v Deportivo La Coruna (H) - WON 3-0 (La Liga)
April 10 v Real Madrid (A) - WON 2-0 (La Liga)
April 6 v Arsenal (H) - WON 4-1 (Champions League)
April 3 v Athletic Bilbao (H) - WON 4-1 (La Liga)
TEAM NEWS
Inter
Francesco Toldo and Davide Santon are unavailable for the Tuesday night fixture but the rest of the squad are fine. Coach Jose Mourinho is likely to deploy an attacking line-up but will keep it tight in the midfield. Sneijder will be the creator-in-chief and will connect the midfield with the attack and he will be backed by Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso from the deep.
Probable Line-up (4-2-3-1): Julio Cesar, Maicon, Lucio, Samuel, Chivu; Zanetti, Cambiasso; Pandev, Sneijder, Eto'o; Milito
Barcelona
Andres Iniesta has been ruled out of the trip to Milan because of injury while Eric Abidal has not yet been given the clearance to play. However, he is part of the 20-man squad that has travelled to Milan. Coach Pep Guardiola has also called up two Barca Atletic players - goalkeeper Ruben Mino and defender Andreu Fontas.
Probable Line-up (4-3-3): Valdes, Alves, Pique, Puyol, Maxwell; Toure, Xavi, Busquets; Messi, Ibrahimovic, Pedro
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Wesley Sneijder (Inter)
The Dutch international midfielder has been a key player for Inter in their progress in the Champions League so far. Sneijder was tremendous against Chelsea in the last 16 stage and also scored the winner against CSKA Moscow in the second leg of their quarter-final tie. The former Real Madrid playmaker has brought a sense of dynamism and urgency in the Nerazzurri midfield and his creativity, free-kick skills and passing range have been hugely helpful to Inter's cause. The Barcelona defensive line has to be careful against the former Ajax star.
Xavi (Barcelona)
The Barcelona playmaker was brilliant against Arsenal over two legs in the quarter-finals and he will again be a key player for the Catalans on Tuesday night. Lionel Messi might be the best player in the world but it is Xavi, placed at 22 in the Castrol Rankings, who allows him to be so by constantly moving the ball around, maintaining the flow and rhythm of the game and feeding passes to Messi and the rest of the Barca attackline. Inter coach Jose Mourinho will certainly hatch a plan to contain Messi but it will be interesting to see whether the Portuguese can devise an idea to stop Xavi from playing his simple but effective passes.
PREDICTION
It promises to be a very tactical match and will be influenced by how the two coaches align their teams. Most assume that Inter will be happy with a 1-0 win as the Nerazzurri are likely to deploy a defensive plan, but Barca have looked vulnerable at the back and also failed to score at the weekend. Inter drew 0-0 with the Blaugrana at the San Siro in the group stage earlier this season and if they can clog the midfield and take their chances on the counter, then they could earn a win.
Inter 1-0 Barcelona
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