No player still employed at a European club has scored more Uefa Champions League goals than Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski.
And no footballer in Inter Milan’s storied history has struck more times for the club in Europe’s main club competition than Lautaro Martinez.
Little wonder then that ahead of a semi-final poised after its dazzling first leg at 3-3, the fitness of both commands extra attention.
Lautaro, withdrawn halfway through last Wednesday’s frenetic ebb-and-flow at Montjuic in Catalonia with a muscle strain, trained tentatively with his teammates.
There is a cautious hope that he, the Inter captain, can play some part in a run that has Inter on the cusp of a second European Cup final in three years and Lautaro on six goals in his last six Uefa outings.
“He had not practised for the previous week,” said Simone Inzaghi, the Inter manager, “so we’ll only make a decision on him on the morning of the game.”
Lewandowski, recuperating from a thigh problem that has kept him out of action for two weeks, travelled to Milan, but is deemed fit only to play a partial role, if any.
For Barca, leading scorers in the Champions League, that is not quite a crisis. Goals flow from many sources: Raphinha and Lamina Yamal have 17 in Europe between them this term whereas Inter’s firepower is spread more thinly.
Marcus Thuram’s brilliant back-heeled finish in the opening minute of the first leg took his tally for the competition to just four goals.
In the absence of Martinez, Inzaghi will be inclined to partner Thuram with Iranian star Mehdi Taremi whose first season in Italy since moving from Porto last summer has been mixed to say the least.
Taremi, used more often than not from the bench, has registered a single goal in Europe, the same in Serie A, where Inter sit second to Napoli, and one more in the Super Cup defeat to AC Milan in January.
Inzaghi nonetheless praised Taremi for his endeavour as the second-half deputy for Martinez last Wednesday.
And, significantly, he rested him, along with several first-team regulars, for most of the following league match – a 1-0 victory over Verona – to preserve his freshness for the second leg. “Mehdi deserves credit for how he performed in Barcelona,” said the Inter coach.
Higher plaudits came from Inzaghi to Yamal, a “once-in-a-generation” phenomenon, according to the Italian.
Inzaghi had tasked two or three Inter players to try to mark 17-year-old Yamal whenever Barcelona took up possession, but still the teenager dribbled past two challenges on the way to launching his team’s comeback from 2-0 down and struck two efforts against the frame of the away goal.
“What impresses you seeing him live is his huge talent, the threat he carries, how everybody in his team wants to give him the ball,” said Inzaghi, speaking at San Siro. “And he has such speed of thought, he always knows what his next move will be.”
“We will try to do something different against Lamine,” said Inzaghi’s assistant coach, Massimiliano Farris, “and after studying closely the first leg, we can see what might be possible for us.”
“In Barcelona we saw something special,” added Farris. “Lamine played very well indeed. He finds space where there seems to be none. He does things with the ball of exceptional quality, and when you squeeze his space, he finds ways through.
“He’s the future of world football. But it’s clear we have to restrict him, and some of that is down to pressing, limiting the time Barca have on the ball.”
Yamal duty will likely again be assigned mostly to Federico Dimarco and Alessandro Bastoni, the little and large of the left flank of Inter’s defence.
“He’s the best I’ve faced,” said the giant Bastoni, a European champion with Italy, and a Champions League finalist with Inter in 2023, “at least in terms of his ability to create chances. But we have learnt from the first leg, and we’ve reflected on the mistakes we made there.”
Dimarco faced particular difficulties in the first-leg duelling with Yamal but the compensation with the 27-year-old is his penetration as an attacking wingback and, indeed, his skill delivering a dead ball.
Inter’s set-pieces are a forte, especially their corners, the origin of four of their last five Champions League goals. “They are a taller side than us,” admitted Hansi Flick, the Barcelona manager, acknowledging that his side’s vigilance defending corners needed improvement if the Catalonians are to reach their first Champions League final in a decade.
Flick has concerns in the make-up of his back four. Right-back Jules Kounde, injured in the first leg, has not made the trip to Italy.
Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen only came back from almost seven months out with a tendon injury for Saturday’s win against Valladolid. Wojciech Szczesny, who was called out of retirement last October to deputise, continues in his place.
First choice left-back Alex Balde’s absence is especially concerning. Denzel Dumfries, lightning fast on Inter’s right flank, and a potent finisher from those effective corners – his spectacular volley from a corner put Inter two goals up at Montjuic.
He also headed in Inter’s third from a Hakan Cahlanoglu delivery – ended up pipping Lamine for the man-of-the-match prize, both for his brace of goals and for how effectively his counter-attacking speed exploited Barca’s bold, high defensive line.
“Barcelona,” believes Inzaghi, “are the most attacking team in the world.” Bastoni meanwhile trusts in Inter’s alternative virtues. “There are two keys to understanding this tie,” said the defender. “We have our experience. They have their lack of fear.”
