[Sukha Spence]

Inter Milan vs. Barcelona - European Champions League Semi Final First Leg
Scorecast: (1-1), First Goalscorer: Lionel Messi - E10.00 @ 18/1

To be honest, this should be a much more difficult prospect for Barcelona than the tie against Arsenal because against Arsenal, Guardiola's Catalan outfit were given the time & space to play their possession football & express themselves. Therefore it was inevitable that Barcelona's influential players, Xavi & Lionel Messi, shone against Arséne Wenger's side. I predict, however, that this will be a much more difficult challenge because while Inter have potency in the attacking third, they also have a solid defence & players who will look to disrupt the natural flow of the game.

Inter are an immensely difficult side to defeat at the Giuseppe Meazza & José Mourinho has claim to an undefeated home League record himself (including home games from his spells at both Porto & Chelsea) with a record 134 home games without defeat. Inter have the best home record in Serie A (13 wins, 4 draws & 0 defeats) & are undefeated at home in the Champions League which is even more impressive considering they had a difficult group to begin with (Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev & Rubin Kazan). After strangling the life out of their game against Barcelona at home & successfully containing Guardiola's side, Barcelona did finally conquer Mourinho's Inter with a convicing performance at the Camp Nou. It's of note however that Inter were shorn of their creative & innovative playmaker, Wesley Sneijder on that particular occasion. As both CSKA Moscow & Chelsea discovered, Inter's strength is their defensive organisation & their threat on the counter attack. Walter Samuel & Lucio have delivered excellent performances in the knockout stages & will have to be on their collective toes. Same applies to the evergreen Javier Zanetti & Maicon, who will have to be more disciplined than usual on account of the fact that he's likely to be facing an in-form Pedro on Barcelona who has scored 20 goals this season including four in the Champions League & sublime goal midweek against Deportivo scored from about 50-yards out. Inter's counter attacking threat will centre around Wesley Sneijder who has been an inspired, outstanding signing for Mourinho & has the ability to feed Samuel Eto'o & Diego Milito (23 goals in all competitions), especially the former who will have something to prove against his former side & will be looking to improve his goalscoring record which hasn't been as impressive as some Inter fans would have hoped. Identifying weaknesses in Inter is a difficult task but perhaps their right & left backs could be two. Zanetti is still has a lot of ability & has amazing stamina but up against Messi, he may have problems. Maicon also has a tendency to bomb forward at every given opportunity & he may have to keep this habit in check against Barcelona. Also, it's important to mention that man-for-man, Barcelona have a stronger central midfield & Inter will have to be very astute in possession.

As for Barcelona, their away form (while still the strongest in La Liga), isn't as impressive as their home record at the Camp Nou which is a fortress. In fact, Barcelona were surprisingly shut out by Espanyol last night which represented the first time since October 17th 2009 (against Valencia at the Mestalla) that they failed to score in a La Liga game. Quite a record. Inter (0-0), Rubin Kazan (0-0), Stuttgart (1-1) & Arsenal (2-2) all managed to hold out for impressive draws. Key player, in my opinion, will be Xavi who was different class against Arsenal (home & away) & produced a breathtaking display against Real Madrid on the El Clasico stage at the Bernabeu. It's astounding that he so rarely conceeds possession. He drifts into space to receive the ball & can dictate the flow of any game & denying him that time & space will be the only way Inter can secure a route to the final. Xavi is, quite comfortably, the best midfielder in world footballer at the moment & it would be surprising to find anyone who disagrees. Obviously, Lionel Messi will be Barcelona's other key player & the diminutive Argentine will be eager to add to his impressive 8 goals in this season's Champions League. If Inter want to be optimistic they may take heart from the fact that Messi has gone the last two successive League games without scoring (against Deportivo he was a little wasteful despite Barcelona still comfortably winning) which counts as a drought by his high standards. However, Messi has still been performing well overall & should relish the occasion once again. Messi has only once this season gone three successive games without scoring a goal in the League. Another player with a lot to prove will be Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I still standby the fact that the deal which brought him to the Camp Nou to begin with was absurd & his performances have been erratic & that shouldn't be the class when you're playing for Barcelona & surrounded by world class players. Should be fit, I predict that his physicality will nullified by Lucio & Samuel. Sergio Busquets will also be key for Barcelona because the robust midfielder should have a huge role in determining the effectiveness of Wesley Sneijder. In terms of weaknesses, they are few & far between. Theo Walcott exposed Maxwell for his lack of pace at the Emirates but I'm not sure if Inter have a Theo Walcott in their sides because their midfield is traditionally rather narrow & it's usually left to Maicon to make runs down the right flank & it would be risky for him commit forward on a regular basis.

Should be a fascinating game & an intriguing battle of wits between Pep Guardiola & José Mourinho. I predict a score stalemate with Barcelona securing an away goal for themselves. In all liklihood, this will not the sensational free-flowing tie, that Barcelona & Arsenal produced but I look forward to it immensely.

Miscellaneous Bets:
- Half Time/Full Time : Inter Milan/Draw @ 12/1 (it's called hedging your bets )
- Score At Anytime: Wesley Sneijder @ 10/3 (freekick specialist)