Barcelona – Inter

Barcelona against Inter is the big derby of the night in the Champions League. The Catalan giants welcome the Italian club at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.

These two teams are the leaders in Group B of the competition with 6 points won each. Barca are leaders, because they have a better goal difference, but Inter following closely. These two sides won their first two games in the tournament against PSV and Tottenham.

Barcelona and Inter meet for a first time since 2010, when Inter eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League 1/2-finals. Now the Spanish team have a chance for a rematch, although the stakes right now are not as big as they were 8 years ago, of course.

But against Inter Barcelona must cope with the absence of their star player Lionel Messi. The Argentine suffered a hand injury during the game against Sevilla in La Liga. This is a huge problem for the manager Ernesto Valverde, who now must find a way to replace Messi. Most likely his place in the starting line-up is going to be taken by Ousmane Dembele, who was benched in the last few games of the team. The new signing Malcom is also a part of the match squad, although Valverde is not trusting him very much.

Inter on the other hand are in a high mood after their win against Milan in the Serie A during the weekend. The team’s captain Mauro Icardi scored the winner at the San Siro. Now Inter are ready to make another gift to their fans, this time against Barcelona at the Camp Nou.

This shall be a very interesting clash between Barcelona and Inter. Can Barca make it without Messi? We shall see. One thing is for sure – Inter are not coming with the idea to lose.