Champions League: Barca, Inter Aim to Reclaim Long-Lost Glory

The road to Munich is at its final stop with the UEFA Champions League semi-finals with Inter Milan travelling to Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys to take on FC Barcelona in their first leg fixture on Thursday (IST).

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Barcelona, the newly-crowned Copa del Rey champions, have no time to celebrate and are getting ready for another monster game as they welcome Inter Milan to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.

Barça come into this one full of confidence after an epic comeback over Real Madrid in Saturday's Final, but the 120-minute marathon certainly took its toll and the Catalans must find a way to get physically and mentally ready for the first of two wars against a very good and experienced Inter side that is fully capable of upsetting the Blaugrana despite their poor recent run of results.

Even though Barça did have to play 120 minutes at the weekend, they still got an extra day's rest with the game taking place on Wednesday instead of Tuesday and still played before Inter, who lost to AS Roma on Sunday and have to travel to Spain. So neither team really has the rest advantage, and Flick will likely go with a very similar side to the one that started the final.

The big question at the back is about Gerard Martín: the backup left-back struggled in El Clásico and hasn't played well for multiple games in a row, and Flick was forced to move Iñigo Martínez into his place to stabilize his defense at the end of the match. We still think Hansi will trust Gerard one more time hoping that his first experience in a big stage will help him in this one, with Pau Cubarsí and Saturday's hero Jules Kounde completing the back four.