Barcelona v Inter: Prediction, tips and bet builder as Spanish and Italian giants battle for Champions League final
Barcelona's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Spanish Copa del Rey final
A spot in the Champions League final hangs in the balance as Barcelona host Inter in the first leg of this potentially thrilling semi-final tie on Wednesday night (2000 GMT).
It’s been a whole decade since Barcelona last played in the final of the Champions League, and it is fair to say that a lot has changed for the Catalan giants since then.
Major financial issues, the departure of Lionel Messi, the demolition of the Camp Nou – it certainly feels like off-field problems have dominated the club’s news cycle in recent years.
However, things are beginning to change. The club won the Copa del Rey last weekend, they’re currently top of La Liga and, to top it all off, they’re in the final four of the biggest club tournament in the world.
Hansi Flick has certainly made a positive impression in his first season with the club – a season which could yet end with an unprecedented quadruple.
Nobody expected Braca to be in this position at the start of the season. Certainly not after Real Madrid’s acquisition of Kylian Mbappe. But while Los Blancos have struggled to utilise their superstars, Barca have found a rhythm not seen for a long time.
Speaking of rhythm, Inter will have none when they travel to Spain for Wednesday’s first leg. I Nerazzurri’s season is on the brink of total collapse following a torrid run of results in recent weeks.
Back-to-back Serie A defeats have seen Inter surrender top spot to high-flying Napoli. If that wasn’t enough, Simone Inzaghi’s side were totally demolished by city rivals AC Milan in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia.
The Italian side desperately need to hit the restart button as they look to snap their four-match winless run and three-match losing run.
Trouble is, Inter have failed to score a single goal across their last three matches and they’re taking on a Barcelona side which has only conceded four goals in six home Champions League games.
With Inter desperately needing something to go their way and Barcelona in red-hot form, Wednesday’s opening leg does have a lot of promise.
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Here we pick out some of our best tips for this juicy Wednesday meeting, and if you put it into a Betway bet builder you’ll get odds of around 6/1.
Barcelona v Inter bet builder
Ferran Torres to score or assist – 7/8
Good luck and please gamble responsibly.
(All odds are correct at time of article publication)
Three wins in a row, eight goals scored, just beat their biggest rivals in a cup final – looking at their recent achievements, you simply have to side with Barcelona.
The Spaniards are absolutely flying on all fronts, winning 12 of their last 14 matches and suffering just one defeat.
If that wasn’t enough, take a look at Barca’s home form. Flick’s men are unbeaten in their last 14 matches at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, winning 11 of those encounters.
As well as backing Barca, we’re also adding over 2.5 goals to our bet builder. This has landed in three of Barcelona’s last four outings. It was also successful in their last three Champions League matches.
Five of Inter’s previous seven matches have also seen over 2.5 goals – that includes both of their legs against Bayern Munich in the previous round.
In terms of specific players, we’re putting our chips on Ferran Torres to score or get an assist. With Robert Lewandowski out of action due to a hamstring injury, Torres has scored two goals in his last three matches – one of those against Real Madrid on Saturday.
We’re also backing Inter goalkeeper Yan Sommer to have a busy night. The Swiss shot stopper is priced at an enticing 30/100 to make 3+ saves over in Barcelona.
Barcelona v Inter: How to watch and listen
Barcelona v Inter will be shown live on TNT Sports at 20:00 on Wednesday, April 30. There will be live match updates on BBC Radio 5 Live and talkSPORT.
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How do we create our tips?
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The Planet Sport team has more than twenty years’ experience working in the sports industry and use their knowledge, experience and statistical analysis to bring you the very best tips possible.
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