Barcelona will be looking to give their Champions League knockout-round hopes a huge boost when they welcome Inter Milan to Camp Nou for a key encounter on Wednesday night.
The Catalan outfit are third in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter, with the Italian giants recording a 1-0 victory when the two teams locked horns at San Siro last week.
Match preview
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Barcelona failed to progress through the group stage in the Champions League last season, and the club are facing that possibility again this term, with a total of three points from three matches leaving them third in Group C, three points behind second-placed Inter and six from leaders Bayern Munich.
Xavi's side opened their group-stage campaign with a 5-1 victory over Viktoria Plzen on September 7 but have lost their last two in the competition, going down 2-0 at Bayern before the loss to Inter at San Siro, with Hakan Calhanoglu scoring the only goal of the contest late in the first half.
Barcelona will be aware of the importance of winning Wednesday's contest, and they will be pleased to be back on home soil, having not lost at Camp Nou in any competition since May.
While it has been a struggle in the Champions League this season, the Catalan outfit have been excellent in La Liga, making it seven straight victories on Sunday night courtesy of a 1-0 success over Celta Vigo, with Pedri scoring the only goal of the contest in the 17th minute.
Barcelona are once again top of La Liga, level on points (22) with Real Madrid, ahead of this weekend's El Clasico at Bernabeu, but Xavi's team cannot afford to look past Wednesday's huge European affair.
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Inter entered the clash with Barcelona last week off the back of successive Serie A defeats to Udinese and Roma, but a huge performance allowed them to secure all three points.
Simone Inzaghi's side suffered a 2-0 loss to Bayern in their section opener on September 7 but recorded a 2-0 victory away to Plzen before the success over Barcelona, and a total of six points has left them in second position, three points behind Bayern, who are the overwhelming favourites to top the group.
Inter will also enter this match off the back of an important Serie A victory, having beat Sassuolo 2-1, with Eden Dzeko scoring twice for the Milan giants, who are seventh in their domestic table on 15 points.
The Italian giants progressed through the group stage of last season's European Cup but were beaten by Liverpool in the round of 16, and they have not made it past the first knockout round of the competition since reaching the final eight in 2010-11.
The Black and Blues suffered a 2-1 defeat when they last travelled to Camp Nou in the group stage of the 2019-20 competition, but Barcelona have lost three of their last six Champions League matches in front of their own supporters, which is a record that should hand the visitors confidence.
Team News
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Barcelona welcomed Frenkie de Jong back from injury against Celta at the weekend, but Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin, Ronald Araujo, Memphis Depay and Jules Kounde remain on the sidelines.
Head coach Xavi will make changes from the side that started against Celta, with Ousmane Dembele, Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto and Eric Garcia in line for starting roles on Wednesday night.
Marcos Alonso could get the nod at left-back, with Gerard Pique joining Garcia in the middle, but there are unlikely to be changes in midfield, with Gavi, Pedri and Sergio Busquets again set to start here.
Franck Kessie has recently been out with a thigh problem but is back in the squad for this match.
As for Inter, Dalbert, Marcelo Brozovic, Alex Cordaz, Joaquin Correa and Gabriel Brazao remain on the sidelines for the Italian giants.
Romelu Lukaku has a chance of being available for selection, with the Belgium international recovering from the muscular problem that has kept him on the sidelines since the end of August, although he will not be considered for a start.
Dzeko is set to feature alongside Lautaro Martinez in the final third of the field, while Denzel Dumfries could get the nod as the right-sided wing-back, with Federico Dimarco lining up on the opposite side.
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, E Garcia, Alonso; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
Inter Milan possible starting lineup:
Onana; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; L Martinez, Dzeko
We say: Barcelona 2-1 Inter Milan
There is no downplaying the importance of this match, with Barcelona in desperate need of all three points to boost their knockout hopes. We are expecting this to be a very tight game, with Inter more than capable of picking up a positive result, but Barcelona should just have enough at home to claim a vital win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
