Barcelona vs. Inter, the complete guide
Team
— Apr 30th 2025All you need to know about the first leg of the Champions League semi-final between the Nerazzurri and the Blaugrana
European nights, Champions League nights: Inter are preparing to play in the semi-final of the highest level continental tournament. The Nerazzurri are flying to Spain to take on Barcelona in the first leg on Wednesday 30 April at 21:00 CEST.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
The history between Barcelona and Inter in European Competitions is filled with intrigue: the sides have met a total of 16 times, with Barcelona winning on eight occasions, Inter winning three times and there being five draws between the sides. However, Inzaghi's side have performed better in recent meetings. In the Champions League in the 2022/23 season, Inter won 1-0 at the Meazza and then drew 3-3 at the Camp Nou in the group stage.
This will be just the second time that Barcelona and Inter have met in the direct elimination phase of the European Cup/Champions League: the last occasion was the historic semi final in the 2009/10 season, when Inter won 3-2 on aggregate (3-1 at San Siro and 0-1 at Camp Nou), marking an important step towards the Treble.
NERAZZURRI STATS
Inter come into the clash boasting the best defence in the European competition: the Nerazzurri could equal their record of nine clean sheets in a single Champions League season, a record currently held by AC Milan in the 2004/05 season and Juventus in the 2016/17 season.
It will be a special night for Simone Inzaghi, who will mark his 50th Champions League game in the dugout: he will become the seventh Italian Coach to reach this prestigious milestone, a feat that Italy currently shares with Spain. The 26 wins until this point represent the best win rate of an Italian Coach in their first 50 games in the competition, beating Marcello Lippi's record (25).
THE OPPOSITION: BARCELONA
The Catalan side, led by Hansi Flick, are experiencing a great run of form and are fresh from their Coppa Del Rey win, 3-2 after extra time against Real Madrid. Koundé's goal in the 116th minute sealed the win. They are currently first in the league with 76 points, four above Real Madrid after 33 matches. They have won 24 games and drawn four. They boast the best attack in the league with 89 goals and have conceded just 32. The Blaugrana finished the league phase of the Champions League in second place, with 19 points following six wins and one draw. With 28 goals scored, they proved to have the best attack in the competition, conceding just 13 goals. In the elimination phase, they defeated Benfica in the Round of 16 before beating Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals. Barcelona come into the clash against the Nerazzurri with an unbeaten streak at home in this edition of the Champions League: six matches undefeated (six wins and a draw) and 21 goals scored. The Blaugrana have only been more prolific at home in the 1999/2000 season (29 goals in eight matches).
The attacking quality of the Catalan side is of a very high level: under the leadership of Flick, Barcelona have scored an average of 3.1 goals per match in the Champions League. This is something which is also confirmed by Raphinha's numbers: the Brazilian has had an active role in 26 goals in 24 European appearances (15 goals and eleven assists) placing him just behind Erling Haaland and Luis Suarez in his first 25 appearances. Attention will need to be paid to the wide men Lamine Yamal and Raphinha: as a pair they have produced more goals than any other in this edition of the Champions League (five) and have created 16 chances for one another. Barcelona usually line up with a 4-3-2-1 formation. Szczesny is usually in goal, the back four is made up of Koundé, Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez and Gerard Martín. Gavi and Pedri usually sit in front of the defence and then Yamal, Dani Olmo and Raphinha will support Ferrán Torres who will likely replace the injured Lewandowski.
BARCELONA'S CAMPAIGN
LEAGUE PHASE AS Monaco 2-1 Barcelona Barcelona 5-0 Young Boys Barcelona 4-1 Bayern München Crvena Zvezda 2-5 Barcelona Barcelona 3-0 Brest Borussia Dortmund 2-3 Barcelona Benfica 4-5 Barcelona Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta
ROUND OF 16 Benfica 0-1 Barcelona Barcelona 3-1 Benfica QUARTER FINALS Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Dortmund Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Barcelona
EL TORO'S NUMBERS
All eyes on Lautaro Martínez. The Inter Captain has scored in each of his last five Champions League appearances: another goal against Barcelona would allow him to equal an historic record, becoming the second South-American to score in six consecutive matches in the highest-level European competition for his club, after Edinson Cavani (seven between 2016 and 2017).
SEMI FINAL SCHEDULE
FIRST-LEG Tuesday 29 April 2025 Arsenal vs. PSG, 21:00 CEST Wednesday 30 April 2025 Barcelona vs. INTER, 21:00 CEST
SECOND-LEG Tuesday 6 May 2025 INTER vs. Barcelona, 21:00 CEST Wednesday 7 May 2025 PSG vs. Arsenal, 21:00 CEST
REFEREE FOR BARCELONA VS. INTER
The referee for the game will be the French official, Clément Turpin. The assistants will be Nicolas Dano and Benjamin Pages, while the fourth official will be François Letexier. Jérôme Brisard will be in charge of VAR with Willy Delajod assisting him.
BARCELONA VS. INTER, WHERE TO WATCH IT ON TV
Barcelona vs. Inter, semi final first-leg of the Champions League 2024/25 season will be played on Wednesday 30 April at 21:00 CEST. The game will be played at Stadio Olimpico Lluís Companys, and will be broadcast on Prime Video. It will also be broadcast on the Amazon Prime Video app, available for smart tv and all other devices, such as smartphone, tablet, PC and console. The game will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel Nine, in compliance with AgCom rules which stipulate that if an Italian team is involved in the Champions League semifinals, the matches must be broadcast free-to-air as they are considered events of national interest.
UPDATES ON INTER TV
As per usual, there will be updates and pre-match coverage on Inter TV right up until kick-off. Our pre Barcelona vs. Inter live match coverage will be live from 19:30 CEST and available on YouTube through the club's official channel, until 20:15 CEST. There will be analysis and interviews at the end of the match.