While we are preparing for the semi -final of the Champions League, only two of the four clubs involved on this stage have a title -winning pedigree.
Barcelona has been champions in Europe five times, but has to reach those heights in the Post-Lionel Messi era, while Inter has ruled the continent three times, most recently under Jose Mourinho in 2009-10.
And after every German opposition had waived in the quarterfinals, Barca Borussia Dortmund and Inter have two tense meetings with Bayern Munich, they will record it for a place in the showpiece of this season.
Barcelona has already had two flavors of silverware, the Supercopa de Espana won and more recently the Copa del Rey, and a clean sweep is now on their agenda.
And although Inter has come across in the Serie A title race and crashed from the Coppa Italia, Simone Inzaghi's reputation as a knockout specialist means that they should not be underestimated.
But who comes at the top of the first stage on Wednesday in the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Company? We dive into the best Opta -Feiten and Figures to understand a delicious tie.
All eyes on the #ucl pic.twitter.com/byzhcejzp4
– UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) 28 April 2025
What is expected?
Prior to the semi-final that started on Tuesday, the Opta-Supercomputer Barca made second favorites to lift the famous old trophy.
They got a 27% chance of going completely, lower than the probability of 31% of Arsenal, but higher than the respective hope for Paris Saint-Germain (22%) and Inter (19%).
With regard to this draw, the Blaugrana get a 58%chance to continue to Inter's 42%, with their chance of winning for the first leg at 55.2%.
The Nerazzurri only gets a 22.5% chance of building a lead over legs on their travels, as they did against Bayern in the quarters, although they would certainly take a draw-considered a chance of 22.3%.
Next stop: Barcelona! #Forzainter #ucl pic.twitter.com/g6wf8cudiz
– Inter (@inter_en) April 16, 2025
The only previous European Cup/Champions League knock-out-language draw between these two giants was a memorable, who came in the same phase of the 2009-10 edition.
On that occasion, Mourinho's Inter Pep Guardiola's Barca eliminated the ruling champions-3-2 on aggregated, with 3-1 in San Siro and then the Blaugrana limited to a 1-0 win in Camp Nou.
While they have connected the largest meeting of the teams, they have generally confronted each other on 16 earlier occasions in Europe, with Barca won eight of those competitions (five draw, three losses).
The Nerazzurri are unbeaten in their last two against the Catalan giants, although they play a 3-3 draw at San Siro and win 1-0 during their travels in the Champions League group phase 2022-23. Barca fell at the first obstacle that campaign, while Inter reached the final.
However, Barcelona is unbeaten in their six home games against Inter in the Champions League (five wins, one draw).
Those five home victories are their joint against every opponent in the Champions League/European Cup, who also beat AC Milan five times, while they have more often organized Chelsea in the competition without losing (seven times).
Flick is declining
The 2019-2020 season, the conclusion of which was played behind closed doors because of the COVID-19 Pandemie, may not be in memory for many.
Unless of course you are Hansi film.
His all-way victory Bayern side won a Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League Treble less than a year after he took the strings, and he now hopes to repeat the trick in his debut season with Barcelona.
The Blaugrana have already conquered the Supercopa de Espana and Copa del Rey Trophies with dramatic victories over Real Madrid, with Jules Kounde the extra-time hero when they won the final of the last competition 3-2 last Saturday.
And with a four -point lead on Los Blancos at the top of Laliga, this is indeed a very memorable season for the Blaugrana.
Since the year of the year, Barca has only lost once in 28 games (22 victories, five draw excluding extra-time), with that defeat that came in the second stage of their quarterfinals against Dortmund, while they took their foot of gas after a 4-0 win from the first legs.
They have scored 83 goals of 66.99 expected goals (XG) since the beginning of 2025, in which they convert 58 of their 121 great opportunities.
Their hope for Champions League glory seemed to have taken a huge blow when Robert Lewandowski – who has 11 goals in the competition this campaign – sustained a hamstring injury, which would miss both games against Inter.
But Ferran Torres Deputte competed against Madrid on Saturday and scored a vital equalizer to force extra time. He is probably flanked by Lamine Yamal and Raphinha, two of the star artists of the Champions League in 2024-25.
Yamal and Raphinha have combined this period for more goals than any other duo in the Champions League (five-two Yamal assists, three Raphinha assists), who also create the most opportunities for each other from a teammate (16-eight each).
Raphinha's 51 target statements for all competitions this season (30 goals, 21 assists) are only improved by Mohamed Salah from Liverpool (33 goals, 23 assists) in Europe's top five competitions, while Yamal 34 has targeted involvement (14 goals, 20 assists).
If a team is equipped to cope with the absence of Lewandowski, it is Barca, which has an average of 3.1 goals per match in the Champions League under Flick. The only club manager duo with a better figure in the history of the competition is Flick's Bayern, with 3.2.
Inter to Channel Spirit of 2010?
Barca's with stars littered attack will, however, come across an inter-team that has already held eight clean sheets in the Champions League this season.
Another would see them that they are equal to the record for most shutouts by an Italian team in a single edition, held together by Rivals Milan in 2004-05 and Juventus in 2016-17.
Inzaghi has forged a reputation like a knockout specialist since he arrived at Inter in 2021, the Coppa Italia won twice, the Supercoppa Italiana three times and leads them to the 2023 Champions League final.
He will supervise his 50th Champions League match here and become the seventh Italian coach to reach this milestone; The most for every nation (currently level with Spain).
His 26 wins are already the most by an Italian manager through their first 50 Champions League matches (one for Marcello Lippi, with 25).
And Inzaghi has again shown his game management skills on the big stage this period. Inter has only spent 10 minutes and 54 seconds in a losing position in the Champions League in 2024-25, the shortest total time of each team.
They fell behind in the second stage of their quarter-final draw versus Bayern, but within nine minutes, goals from Lautaro Martinez and Benjamin Pavard had them 2-1 on the night and 4-2 ahead.
They showed a ability to bend but not breaking to Mourinho's class of 2009-10-in that draw. Inter was 40 shots over their two meetings with Bayern, but the average XG value of each attempt was only 0.09.
But Inter is not just about defensive power, where Nicolo Barella is able to jump up with devastating counterattacks in midfield. This season he has an average of 7.1 progressive steps per 90 minutes in the Champions League, most player who plays in the competition for at least 500 minutes.
Of all the passes of Barella, 12% was progressive (a completed pass in the attacking two -thirds of the field that brings the ball at least 25% closer to the goal), the highest share of each central midfielder in this edition.
The Nerazzurri have been walking in the interior in recent weeks, going from the Coppa Italia to Milan and three points behind Napoli glide in the race for the Scudetto.
But if someone is able to frustrate Barca, it might just be the Nerazzurri.
Players to watch
Barcelona – Raphinha
Raphinha has so far been directly involved in 26 goals in the Champions League, in just 24 performances (15 goals, 11 assists).
Only two players in the history of the competition have more target contributions about their first 25 games in the competition – Erling Haaland (36) and Luis Suarez (28).
Inter – Lautaro Martinez
Martinez scored in each of his last five performances for Inter in the Champions League.
If he just finds it here again, he becomes the second South American player who scores in six consecutive games in the competition, after Edinson Cavani (seven for PSG between November 2016 and October 2017).