AFCON 2025
It is not out of place to argue that Barcelona have a fair chance to beat Inter Milan to the Champions League final ticket at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, on Tuesday night, given how the first leg ended. The pulsating three-all draw on Wednesday last week has been added to the archives of enthralling Champions League knockout matches in history.
Barcelona have arguably the most potent attack in the Champions League this season. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Lamine Yamal have combined for 45-goal involvements in the competition so far.
Robert Lewandowski returns to the squad after missing out on the 1st leg. The Polish striker is set to replace Ferran Torres in attack as Hansi Flick looks to qualify Barcelona for their first Champions League final since 2015.
Nevertheless, Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan, with a couple of factors in their favour, have an advantage, albeit slight, to progress into the final of the competition.
1. Inter Milan Home Advantage
The Nerazzurri are ruthless in front of their home fans in the Champions League. Inter Milan have won all their home matches in the competitions this season, except for the two-all draw against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the quarter-final fixture. In addition, the San Siro is an intimidating arena as the vociferous home fans make the atmosphere uncomfortable for visitors. Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Lewandowski will not only deal with their makers on Tuesday but also the over 70,000 fans who will taunt them all night.
2. Barcelona’s struggles with set pieces
Inter Milan are a formidable team in attack, just like Barcelona, but one of the differences between both teams is that the former can cause damage from set-piece situations. Denzel Dumfries took advantage of Barcelona’s average-sized players to plant a header into the back of the net in the first leg. Barcelona are likely to struggle against Inter in set-piece situations as the likes of Francesco Acerbi, Marcu Thuram, and Denzel Dumfries would be in position to take advantage.
3. High-line vs Counter Attack
Inter Milan play a compact, yet fluid 3-5-2 system which allows deep sit deep and also lauch swift counter-attcks as seen in the first leg. Marcus Thuram’s 30 seconds opener came from Simone Inzagahi’s men to move the ball quickly and bypass Barcelona’s high-line in the midfield area. Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s disallowed goal also came in similar fashion as Barcelona defenders failed to get back in shape from a counter-attack situation. Inter Milan will look to expoli this weakness in Hansi Flick’s system when both teams meet up again on Tuesday night at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
