A second-place finish in Champions League Group C is on the line as Barcelona and Inter Milan lock horns in a high-stakes encounter at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Barcelona’s Champions League campaign has reached a ‘make or break’ point following a morale-damaging 1-0 defeat at Inter last week. After losing twice in their opening three matches in the so-called ‘group of death,’ the ‘Blaugrana’ risk bowing out in the Champions League group phase twice on the spin for the first time in the 21st century. The impending return to the Spotify Camp Nou, where they overcame fellow La Liga rivals, Celta Vigo, 1-0 at the weekend, could come in handy. Indeed, the ‘Catalans’ have suffered just three defeats across their last 44 Champions League games on home turf (W36, D5), all of which came during Ronald Koeman’s lacklustre tenure. Keen to avoid the fate of his predecessor, Xavi Hernandez will hope to build on Barcelona’s eye-catching 17-game home form against Italian visitors (W13, D3, L1).
As for Inter Milan, after a 2-0 home defeat to Group C leaders Bayern Munich on day one, they’ve strung together consecutive Champions League wins to seize a coveted runner-up spot. However, you’d have to go back to 2004 for Inter’s last Champions League triumph on Spanish soil, with ‘I Nerazzurri’ going winless in eight successive such fixtures since a 5-1 thumping of Valencia 18 years ago (D1, L7). What’s more, last season’s Serie A runners-up have lost all five Champions League visits to Barcelona, failing to trouble the scoreboard on four occasions. Despite entering this contest as pre-match outsiders, Inter can at least fall back on a two-game winning streak in the run-up to this fixture, including a hard-earned 2-1 victory at Sassuolo over the weekend.
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