Barcelona’s makeshift defence held firm in a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo at the weekend.
An upcoming El Clásico would ordinarily take precedence, but with Barcelona third in Group C and facing the threat of a second consecutive absence from the UEFA Champions League (UCL) knockouts since 1998/99, focus must be on this game for now. If Barça are to avoid falling to that fate, this clash against second-place Inter Milan appears pivotal for their continental hopes after losing 1-0 in the reverse leg at the San Siro last week.
A trip to face Barcelona may not be as daunting as it once was with the Catalans winning just two of their last nine UEFA home matches (D3, L4), but Barça will be no pushovers after winning four consecutive competitive games at the Spotify Camp Nou, their best home stretch since April 2021.
While other clubs may not have found a visit to the Camp Nou daunting, Inter certainly have, losing more UCL away games here (five) than anywhere else.
Despite the confidence gained from back-to-back-wins coming into this match, Inter have struggled in Serie A this season (W5, L4) and their last away UCL win in Spain came way back in October 2004 (D1, L7 since) indicating that their fledgling winning run will be under serious threat here.
Records are there to be broken though as Inter’s 1-0 win at home in the reverse leg was actually their first UCL win against a Spanish club since 2010, a season they went on to win the competition!
As Inter prepare for their 50th UEFA match against Spanish opposition, a win would not only strengthen their bid to top Group C, but also see Inter become the first Italian side to beat Barça twice in a single UCL campaign! It would require Inter to end a couple more records along the way though, as they haven’t picked up three consecutive victories yet this season and have never won three away UCL games on the bounce.
