Following Inter’s impressive victory over the Spanish giants last Tuesday at the San Siro, the Nerazzurri hope that they can maintain their fine defensive structure and organization that they displayed on Milanese soil as they are set to take on Barcelona at the Camp Nou.
Within the previous fixture, it was Inter who triumphed over Xavi’s men in an enticing 1-0 win as Turkish international Hakan Calhanoglu paved the way towards three vital points with a low-driven screamer from a long way out that went in the back of the net.
As of right now, Inter are currently unbeaten within two consecutive fixtures across all competitions following a 2-1 victory on the road against Sassuolo over the weekend, which was inspired by a brace from the veteran striker Edin Dzeko.
Meanwhile, Barcelona have won their past five fixtures within La Liga, maintaining their unbeaten status within their domestic league with a total of seven wins and one tie within their first eight games played following their 1-0 win over Celta Vigo this past weekend. As a result, the Catalonia giants are currently joint first with Real Madrid with a total of 22 points.
Team News
As per Inzaghi’s side, the attacking pair Romelu Lukaku and Joaquin Correa have failed to recover in time ahead of the vital fixture, leaving the Italian tactician with Lautaro Martinez and Dzeko as his only resources within the front-line. In addition, Marcelo Brozovic is also unavailable to feature in the fixture within the holding-midfielder position due to an injury that was suffered over the international break.
Meanwhile, Xavi is scarce for central defenders as Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, and Ronald Araujo are all held at bay due to injury. Furthermore, Dutch international Memphis Depay is also ruled out of the game following a series of various injuries since the start of the campaign.
Predicted Lineups
Inter Predicted XI: Andre Onana; Alessandro Bastoni, Stefan De Vrij, Milan Skrinia; Robin Gosens, Hakan Calhanoglu, Roberto Gagliardini, Nicolo Barella, Denzel Dumfries; Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Lautaro Martinez
Barcelona Predicted XI: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen; Eric Garcia, Frenkie De Jong, Gerard Pique; Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Marcos Alonso; Raphina, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele.
With three points separating each club from each other within Group C, will Inter move six points clear in order to increase their chances of advancing to the Round of 16, or will Barcelona put a halt to Inzaghi’s side in order to keep their European aspirations alive?
Julian Faustini Ι GIFN
