Barcelona vs Inter Milan – Drama Returns Once Again

Whenever Inter Milan and Barcelona meet in a Champions League semi-final, something unusual seems to happen.

Back in 2010, before their semi-final clash, a volcanic eruption in Iceland shut down air travel. Because of that, the Barcelona team had to take a 15-hour bus ride to reach Milan. In that first leg, Inter won 3–1. They then defended strongly in the second leg and reached the final with a 3–2 overall win. That same season, under coach José Mourinho, Inter went on to win a historic treble by beating Bayern Munich.

This time, Inter didn’t face such travel trouble. However, on Monday, a major power outage affected parts of Spain and Portugal, leaving many areas in darkness. Power was restored by Tuesday morning, and Inter’s chartered flight landed in Barcelona as scheduled at 5 p.m.

Barcelona’s 17-year-old star Lamine Yamal was stuck at the training center during the blackout. “Honestly, we didn’t know what to do. We spent the whole day at the training center. It was surprising, but now we’re fully focused and motivated for the semi-final,” he said.

Inter coach Simone Inzaghi is hoping his team can regain confidence. Inter is currently in poor form, having lost three straight matches without scoring a single goal — something that hasn’t happened in 13 years. After drawing 2–2 with Bayern Munich, they lost 1–0 to Bologna and Roma in Serie A and 3–0 to AC Milan in the second leg of the Coppa Italia.

These losses pushed Inter down the Serie A standings, now trailing Napoli by three points. “We’re always ambitious. The league is not in our control now, but in the Champions League, we’re one of the top four teams in Europe,” Inzaghi said. “Despite recent poor results, the team is in good shape. The players are hungry and confident.”

One of the main reasons for the recent struggles has been the absence of striker Marcus Thuram due to a thigh injury. Thuram has scored 17 goals and provided 9 assists this season. Lautaro Martínez looks tired, and his replacement Marko Arnautović hasn’t performed well.

Thuram has now returned to training, but it’s still uncertain whether he will start in Wednesday’s match. “Thuram trained with the team for the first time since the Bayern game,” said Inzaghi. “We did a short session, and he looked positive. I’ll talk with him again and make a decision.”

Inter is now aiming to reach the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons. They last reached the final in 2023 but lost to Manchester City.