The first semi-final encounter between Inter and Barcelona a week ago had an unexpected result. The Catalans came to their home stadium as favourites to win the first leg and were looking to build on the first leg before travelling to Milan. In fact, from the first minute of the game Barcelona found themselves in the status of the losing side. Instead of equalising after Thuram's spot-kick the Catalans conceded again midway through the first half. Yamal and Torres made the score 2-2 before the break, but midway through the second half Barcelona found themselves back on the losing side. However, this time it took Rafinha about a minute to organise Sommer's auto-goal after Inter's third goal. The footballers ended up with a 3-3 draw. A particularly dangerous factor is the fact that Barcelona did not dominate at home walls over the opponent, so can hardly be considered a clear contender for victory in Milan. Nevertheless, bookmakers have identified the guests as the favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 2.20 on their victory.

Inter put a lot on the line for the sake of promotion in the Champions League this season. Most recently, the Milan club was leading in Serie A and was a semi-finalist in the Italian Cup. However, between their quarter-final battles with Bayern Munich and the start of their Champions League clash with Barcelona, the team suffered three defeats, two of which took away their lead in the league and the third knocked them out of the domestic cup. The first game against Barcelona demonstrated that Inter are still "in the saddle", and events on the Italian football scene do not necessarily reflect the state of the club as a whole.

Barcelona were definitely knocked out of their comfort zone by the outcome of the first encounter. At the overall Champions League stage and the previous two play-off stages, the Catalans have never once provoked doubts in their favour and have always held the situation in their own hands. Inter's main achievement from the opening match of the duel was that Barcelona's camp is now in doubt. A lot depends on the character of the guest players, but Inter have already proved that they are not afraid of anyone in the European arena. Let's bet that the home team will not lose.