Barcelona vs Inter Milan Preview & Live Score: Champions League 2009-10 Semi Final

With the hope of overturning the 3-1 first leg deficit, Barcelona is going to face Inter Milan in the second leg semi final of UEFA Champions League 2009-10 at the Camp Nou stadium on 28 April 2010. Inter Milan has an advantage as it won the first leg 3-1 at San Siro and it would be interesting to see if Jose Mourinho boys can hold on to their first leg advantage and progress to the tournament final after 38 years.

If you want to get the live score and updates of the Barcelona vs Inter Milan second leg semi final match, then visit the following link:

Barcelona vs Inter Milan Live Updates: 28 April 2010

Match: Barcelona vs Inter Milan; Second Leg, Semi Final, UEFA Champions League 2009-10

Date: 28 April 2010

Venue: Camp Nou

Kick off: 19:45 BST (British Standard Time); 18:45 GMT

Live TV and Radio: ITV 1 TV channel, BBC Radio 5 Live

Though Barcelona is now under pressure, there is every possibility the Catalans could make it to the tournament final for the second year in a row. What they need is a 2-0 victory which is enough for them to go into the final ahead of Inter on overseas goal. The good thing for Barcelona is that they will be playing at their home ground which would defiantly be a packed with supporters.

Defending champion Barcelona has been in great form now. This is third consecutive year Barcelona is playing in the Champions League semi final. Last year, they defeated Manchester United in the tournament final to clinch their third European title. Barcelona also won the League and Spanish Cup last season, and thus, making their first treble in the history. The Catalans are also leading in Spanish league at the moment with four rounds of games yet to go and the way they are going they have the best chance to defend their league title. More than that, world’s best footballer Lionel Messi has been in sparkling form this season and another Messi magic could see them go into the tournament final on Wednesday. Scoring 8 goals from 10 appearances, he is now the leading goal scorer of Champions League this season. Similarly, he is also the highest scorer of Spanish league with 27 goals so far to his credit.

Coach Pep Guardiola has brought many successes for the Catalan club within a very short time, but it seems that the former Barcelona star is now facing perhaps the biggest challenge since taking over the reign of Barcelona. However, he is confident that his boys would overtake the score in the second leg.

BBC reported:

"We have to control the position of the ball and attack in a better way than the first leg.

"(We must) be ourselves, basically. Inter doesn't matter, their coach doesn't matter - what matters is we're ourselves. If we do that, job done. Magic it's not - it's a game of football."

Well, the Barcelona coach may not believe in magic, but Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin believes that it was a Mourinho magic that shattered Barcelona in the first leg. Inter Milan may not achieved as much as Barcelona did over the last few seasons, but you can not deny the fact that they are the Italian champion for the four seasons in a row now. Even Inter is currently leading in Serie A this season. Barcelona would try to make it 2-0, but you must remember that if Inter Milan can score a goal, then Barcelona has to score 3 to level the score.

Inter Milan’s physical style of game has become a matter of worry for Barcelona and they have already started playing mental game by putting pressure on Belgian referee Frank De Bleeckere who would officiate the match. Inter Milan has also complained about it saying that Barcelona is trying to get some advantage before the game. On the other hand, Mourinho earlier said that Lionel Messi is a good actor who sometimes chooses to act to get the favor of the referee. It is also part of Inter’s psychological game to create some pressure on the diminutive striker.

Injury News

Barcelona is missing its captain Carles Puyol on suspension, while Eric Abidal and Andres Iniesta are doubtful for the game due to their injuries. Definitely, missing the players like Puyol would be a big blow, but Barcelona would have to cope up with the situation and try to make it to the final without their captain.

Inter Milan also has injury worry. The Italian giants could miss the service of their in-form Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder who has been in impressive form since his move to Inter from Real Madrid. The availability of Sneijder is still doubtful as the player is recovering from a muscle injury. A late decision on Sneijder is now expected from Mourinho. Moreover, Dejan Stankovic is also unavailable for the game due to suspension. Mario Balotelli will also sit out for the match following his fall out against Inter fans after the first leg match.

Jose Mourinho knows that it would be a big task to prevent Barcelona’s attacking intent and restrict the players like Messi. So, there is a possibility he could deploy an attacking formation believing the saying- attacking is the best defense. In fact, he chose this strategy against Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge and it worked very well. No doubt, Barcelona would be looking to score from the very beginning of the game and naturally a pressure would be on Inter defense, but if Inter also starts attacking then the pressure could be on Barcelona who starts the game on a deficit of 2 goals and that is enough to feel some pressure on the shoulder. If Sneijder fails to make it to the final eleven, then Mourinho could choose to deploy Maicon in the midfield, even though he played as a right back in the first leg.

Former Italian great Roberto Baggio said that preventing Barcelona from Inter defense would be the only way to go into the final. He said:

"If we consider that Barcelona are champions, who for three years have reached the semifinals and you see what they have done this season in matches against Inter, it is right to say that they are the favourites.

"How do you stop them? You stop them from entering the San Siro! Jokes apart, Inter seems to me the right team to stop Barcelona. For the men, the game and mentality it has the means to bother to Pep Guardiola."

For Barcelona, they have some worry in the defense as they are missing experienced Puyol. In his absence, Milito and Pique would be responsible for the middle of their defense with Alves and Maxwell playing on the right and left side respectively. Busquets would pair up with Xavi just behind the trio of Keita, Messi and Pedro. Either Ibrahimovic or Henry would play as the lone striker.

Online Live Score and Updates

If you want to get the live score and updates of the match between Barcelona and Inter Milan, then visit the following websites:

Live Score

Goalzz

Live Football Scores

Goal.com

Footie Scorez

Overall, Barcelona seems to be favorite to win the second leg, but it is very hard to say if they would be able to turn over the first leg deficit. To me, it seems that Jose Mourinho would not let that happen and I think that Inter Milan is going to play the Champions league final this season. What do you think about it?