UEFA Champions League: Messi A Doubt As Barcelona Target Victory Against Inter Milan

Argentina forward, Lionel Messi could face a late fitness test as Barcelona welcome Inter Milan at Camp Nou in the Champions League on Wednesday looking to build some momentum after a difficult start to the season.

Messi, who copped an injury in the team’s 2-1 win over Villarreal in the Spanish La Liga last week, still has a slim chance of playing in Wednesday’s game after making a return to training on Monday.

Barcelona will be desperate to have Messi on the starting line up as manager, Ernesto Valverde seeks to pick maximum points at home after drawing Borussia Dortmund 0-0 in Germany in the Champions League opening fixture.

On the other hand, Inter have been faultless under Conte’s management thus far this season and look to be heading in a positive, upward trajectory once again.

Although the team struggled to hold Slavia Prague to a 1-1 draw in their opening fixture in the Champions League, however, the team will be hoping to shock the Catalans at Camp Nou in order to put the team back to reckoning.

Head To Head

Wednesday’s game will be the 13th competitive meeting between the two sides, with Barcelona currently leading the way on six wins compared to Inter’s two.

This is the second consecutive season in which these two have done battle in the group stage after they met in last year’s competition, where Barcelona took four points from the two games.

One has to go back to a Fairs Cup tie in January 1970 for Inter’s only away win against Barcelona, when the game finished 2-1 to the Italians.

Possible Line Ups

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Semedo, Pique, Lenglet, Firpo; Busquets, De Jong, Arthur; Griezmann, Suarez, Perez

Inter Milan: Handanovic; De Vrij, Godin, Skriniar; Candreva, Gagliardini, Brozovic, Sensi, Asamoah; Martinez, Lukaku

Betting Tips

Momentum will probably play a big factor in this one, with Inter being defensively savvy enough to stifle most of Barcelona’s offensive threats and take something from their hardest game in the group. The worst bet will be a Barcelona win or draw.