Inter Milan vs Barcelona
Two of Europe’s football royalty come face to face at the San Siro Stadium on Tuesday, when Inter Milan host Barcelona as they both aim to pull clear in the toughest group in the Champions League.
Inter and Barca each have one win from their opening two games, both beating Viktoria Plzen and losing to FC Bayern, and they will meet twice over the next fortnight with the return match set for the Camp Nou on 12th October.
Barcelona are sixth favourites to win the 2022/23 Champions League at odds of 12.00, while Inter Milan are out at 101.00 and the Catalans have a slight edge already, ahead of I Nerazzurri on goal difference.
These next two clashes could well shape the destiny of both.
The Blaugrana come into the game on the back of a narrow win away to Real Mallorca, a result which took Xavi’s team to the top of La Liga, for at least 24 hours anyway.
Meanwhile, Inter lost 1-2 at home to Roma, a result which left Simone Inzaghi’s team in seventh place in Serie A and eight points off the lead.
Talking Points
Nerazzurri Inconsistency
Inter’s clash with Roma was a chance for Inzaghi’s team to shake off a loss to Udinese just before the international break. And it was all going to plan when Federico Dimarco opened the scoring on the half hour. But goals from Paulo Dybala and Chris Smalling handed all three points to Roma, who climbed to within four points of leaders Napoli, while Inter were left to pick up the pieces before this huge clash with Barcelona.
There is a worrying trend at Inter. These back-to-back defeats followed two wins which, in turn, came after two more defeats. Inter have won four and lost four of their league games so far and only the bottom three teams have suffered more defeats. They were unlucky against Roma as Edin Dzeko had a goal ruled out by VAR while Hakan Calhanoglu hit a free-kick against the crossbar.
But Inter need to find a way of grinding out results. While star striker Lautaro Martinez will line up alongside Dzeko in the hope of breaching the Barca back line, it is I Nerazzurri’s defence which will need to be on its game against the Catalans, with Slovakian centre-back Milan Skriniar and Alessandro Bastoni prepared for battle.
They are excellent defenders but they are set to face the most lethal striker in the game.
Lewandowski can conquer Spain
Having dominated the Bundesliga throughout his career to date, Robert Lewandowski is just carrying on in Spain where he left off in Munich. Head coach Xavi must be delighted with his recruit who is inspiring a youthful team to its best league start in a while, and with real potential to win La Liga.
Lewandowski has scored three goals in the Champions League so far and he bagged his ninth league goal in seven games to hand Barcelona a hard-earned win over Mallorca on Saturday.
While the Blaugrana dominated possession in Mallorca, they didn’t have it all their own way as their hosts won the shot count by 13 to 11 with three each on target. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made a couple of brilliant saves to preserve Barca’s three points.
There has been one black mark for the Polish goal machine though, as Lewi’s return to Munich turned out to be a bad night at the office for the player and his club, going down 2-0. But other than that, Lewandowski has been at his best and the club’s younger stars are responding superbly. The fit-again Ansu Fati made the assist against Mallorca while the exciting midfield duo of Pedri and Gavi are improving week on week.
At the other end of the pitch, centre-back recruit Andreas Christensen has settled well at the Camp Nou following his summer switch from Chelsea. He formed a solid partnership with veteran Gerard Pique in the win over Mallorca, but Xavi can rotate his back four with Eric Garcia ready to step in.
The Champions League 2022 betting odds are backing the Blaugrana to escape from Group C unscathed and the blend of youth and experience and, of course, a red-hot striker makes them look a good bet.
History
Barcelona are five-time Champions League winners, the last occasion in 2015, and they have won 26 La Liga titles. Meanwhile, Inter Milan have won three European crowns, most recently in 2010, and 19 Scudetti.
The Catalans have bossed the head to heads, winning seven of the last 11 meetings with Inter, drawing three and losing just one. The two teams met in the 2019/20 Champions League at the group stage when Barcelona won home and away, both times with a 2-1 score line.
And recent form favours the visitors too. Inter have won three and lost four of the last seven while Barca have won six and lost one.
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