The big showdown is here! Spanish side, Barcelona, and Italian side, Inter, stand just two (2) games away from a spot in the Uefa Champions League Final.
Barcelona will welcome Inter for the first leg of the semi final tie at Estadi Olimpic at 20:00 (WAT) on Wednesday 30 April, 2025; the second leg will take place at Giuseppe Meazza, Italy next Tuesday at 20:00 (WAT).
After winning the Spanish Super Cup, and lifting the Copa Del Rey following a 3-2 victory over Real Madrid, just four (4) days ago, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona are moving with confidence to slug it out with Simone Inzaghi’s Nerazzurri.
Whoever emerges victorious in this tie will face either Arsenal or PSG; the French side are already ahead following a lone goal triumph over the Gunners on Tuesday 29 April, 2025 at Emirates Stadium.
Contrastin Form
Barcelona head into their own semi in beautiful form. In all competitions, they have only suffered one loss in 2025, and that defeat in Dortmund barely counts because the result was still good enough to ensure they progressed to the semi-finals. The Catalans are still unbeaten at home this calendar year, and in the Champions League, they haven’t lost at the Estadi Olimpic once this season.
For Inter Milan, in contrast, things have all started going wrong in the last few weeks. Consecutive defeats away to Bologna and at home to Roma simply mean they have been knocked off top position in Serie A by Napoli, and in between they were well beaten by city rivals AC Milan in the final of the Coppa Italia.
In the Uefa Champions League, they finished an impressive fourth in the League Phase, losing just one game at Bayer Leverkusen, so like the Catalans they progressed straight into the last 16. There they cruised past Feyenoord 4-1 on aggregate to earn a meeting with mighty Bayern Munich in the quarter finals. A 2-1 win in Bavaria was followed by a 2-2 draw at home, and here they are heading to slug it out Barça in what promises to be a fierce clash of polar opposites.
Barcelona possess the most lethal attacking record in the whole competition (37 goals in 12 games, an astounding 3.1 per game), but Simone Inzaghi has guided the mos solid team defensively, conceding just five (5) goals and keeping eight (8) clean sheets in their 12 games played so far.
Previous Showdowns
Champions League Group Stage 2002-03
Barça 3-0 Inter / Inter 0-0 Barça (Both teams advanced to the next round)
Champions League Group Stage 2009-10
Inter 0-0 Barça / Barça 2-0 Inter (Both teams advanced to the next round)
Champions League Semi-Final 2009-10
Inter 3-1 Barça / Barça 1-0 Inter (Inter advanced 4-1 on aggregate)
Champions League Group Stage 2018-19
Barça 2-0 Inter / Inter 1-1 Barça (Only Barça advanced to the next round)
Champions League Group Stage 2019-20
Barça 2-1 Inter / Inter 2-1 Barça (Only Barça advanced to the next round)
Champions League Group Stage 2022-23
Inter 1-0 Barça / Barça 3-3 Inter (Only Inter advanced to the next round)
Team News
Robert Lewandowski, Alejandro Balde, Marc Bernal and Marc Casadó will all be missing in action for Barcelona due to injury. Goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen is completely fit again and in the squad, although manager, Hansi Flick, insisted at his pre-match press conference that he is sticking with Wojciech Szczęsny.
Inter will field against Barcelona without defender Benjamin Pavard, and there are doubts concerning the fitness of his compatriot Marcus Thuram.
One man to look out for in this encounter for the Nerazzurri is Argentine forward, Lautaro Martinez, who has netted in his last five (5) Champions League outings with Inter and has eight goals (8) in total.
