Barcelona vs Inter Milan predictions: Catalans to secure first-leg advantage
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- Barcelona beat Borussia Dortmund in quarter-finals
- Inter knocked out Bayern Munich in last eight
- Recommended bet: Barcelona to win
Fresh from lifting the Copa del Rey, Barcelona will now hope to stay on course for Champions League glory by getting past Inter Milan in the last four.
Hansi Flick's side host the Italian champions on Wednesday, with the visitors reeling from being knocked out of the Coppa Italia by local rivals AC Milan last week before they also lost at home to Roma in Serie A on Sunday.
Team news
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Robert Lewandowski is still struggling with a hamstring injury so the experienced Barca striker is set to miss Wednesday's clash.
Marc Bernal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Alejandro Balde and Marc Casado are still on the sidelines for the hosts, but Dani Olmo should be fit for the first leg.
Marcus Thuram remains a major doubt for Inter with a thigh injury, while Benjamin Pavard is struggling with an ankle problem.
However, Denzel Dumfries and Piotr Zielinski both returned to action when coming off the bench against Roma on Sunday so they are now pushing to start.
The stats
Barcelona have lost twice in the Champions League this season, 2-1 to Monaco in their League Phase opener and 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-final second leg, when they were already 4-0 up from the first clash.
Barca comfortably beat Benfica 4-1 in the last 16 before getting past Dortmund 5-3 on aggregate in the previous round.
Raphinha has scored 30 goals for the Catalan giants this season in all competitions, including 12 in the Champions League.
Inter's only defeat in the competition so far came at Bayer Leverkusen (1-0) in the League Phase.
Inter beat Feyenoord 4-1 on aggregate in the last 16 before edging out Bayern Munich 4-3 overall in the quarter-finals.
The Italian side have lost their last three games in all competitions without scoring a goal.
Prediction
Barcelona have already secured silverware this season thanks to a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final and they could yet complete a famous quadruple after also winning the Spanish Super Cup earlier in the campaign, while they sit four points clear at the top of LaLiga and are now preparing to face Inter in the last four in Europe.
They should approach Wednesday's semi-final first leg on a high while, in contrast, Inter's promising campaign is threatening to fall apart at the worst possible time.
Simone Inzaghi's side will have been bruised by their recent 4-1 aggregate defeat to city rivals Milan in the Coppa Italia semis, while back-to-back league losses to Bologna and Roma mean they are now three points behind Napoli in the Serie A title race.
Inter were hugely impressive in the League Phase, conceding just one goal on their way to finishing fourth and even though the two sides both finished with 19 points, Barca secured second place thanks to a superior goal difference.
Flick's side racked up 28 goals in the first stage — 17 more than Inter — and while they conceded 13, their fearsome attacking firepower has been evident all season and should stand them in good stead again on Wednesday.
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