Barcelona welcome Inter Milan to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Wednesday night.
Hansi Flick’s hosts are currently the bookmakers’ favourites to conquer the continent for the first time in a decade.
The Catalan giants placed second in the league phase before brushing aside both Benfica and Borussia Dortmund to take their place in the last four.
Barcelona will come into this clash on cloud nine after clinching the first leg of a potential treble after defeating fierce rivals Real Madrid 3–2 in a thrilling Copa del Rey final on Saturday night.
As for Inter Milan, they will have to lift themselves up off the canvas after their Serie A title hopes suffered a major blow when losing 1-0 at home to Roma on Sunday.
That being said, Simone Inzaghi’s side – who got the better of Bayern Munich in the previous round – certainly won't be fazed by the task in hand on Wednesday night.
How the bookies view it: Barcelona to boss first leg
Barcelona – who have won five of their six Champions League games at their temporary home this season – are firm 8/13 favourites on Boylesports.
Inter Milan are unfancied 15/4 underdogs with Boylesports as they look to bag a first leg lead, while the draw is also considered unlikely at 3/1 with the same bookmaker.
Head to head: Inter up against it
The two teams have become familiar foes in the Champions League in recent years, having been housed in the same group across five of the last six seasons. It’s Barcelona who boast the stronger head-to-head-record, winning six of the overall 12 meetings, while losing just twice.
Players to watch: Raphina ready to rock
With a mighty impressive return of 12 goals and seven assists across his 12 Champions League appearances this season, Barcelona ace Raphinha stands out to register another goal involvement on Wednesday night at 5/6 with PaddyPower.
Federico Dimarco could be in a direct battle with Barcelona boy wonder Lamine Yamal, who is drawing an average of 1.92 fouls per game in the Champions League this season. With that in mind, the Inter defender looks an attractive option to commit 2+ fouls at 11/4 (PaddyPower).
Predicted line-ups
Barcelona will once again be without star striker Robert Lewandowski, while Alejandro Balde, Marc Bernal, Marc Casado are also injured.
Alessandro Bastoni and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are expected to be restored to the Inter starting XI after missing out against Roma on Sunday due to suspension, however Marcus Thuram is ruled out through injury.
Barcelona: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Martin; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres
Inter: Sommer; Pavard, Acerbi, Bastoni; Darmian, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Taremi
Anything else catch the eye?
With Barcelona a touch too short to side with at the above-mentioned odds, instead look for Flick’s side to win alongside under 5.5 goals at 4/5 on Boylesports.
This Bet Builder would have paid out in each of Barcelona’s five home wins in this season’s Champions League to date.
As for Inter, each of their three domestic defeats over the last week or so have all gone under the proposed 5.5 goal barrier.
This UEFA Champions League match between Barcelona and Inter Milan will be played on and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Barcelona vs Inter Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
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