Barcelona-Inter Milan: Champions League Semifinal Second Leg Preview

In a matchup that was billed to be good enough to be a final, the 2009 Champions League title holders FC Barcelona now find themselves just 90 minutes from failing to make this year's final as they find themselves down 3-1 on aggregate.

In that first leg, Barcelona found themselves up 1-0 early thanks to a goal from Pedro, but Wesley Sneijder put together a fantastic performance afterwards, scoring the tying goal just 11 minutes later and helping Inter to score their two other goals in the 3-1 win.

Late in the match, Barcelona were unfairly denied a penalty as Dani Alves was taken down in the box, but referee Olegário Benquerença saw it differently and booked the Brazilian for diving.

In this preview, I will give a breakdown on the entire semifinal, team news, players to watch, and, of course, my final prediction.

Preview

Now that Bayern Munich are into the Champions League final, this has now become a battle to see who will face the German side that will be looking for their fourth Champions League title.

This match is at the Camp Nou in Barcelona, where Barcelona have only suffered one loss all season in the Champions League (against Rubin Kazan in the group stage of the Champions League).

But, Barcelona have already beaten Inter at the Camp Nou back in late November by a 2-0 score, which is a score that would be strong enough for Barcelona to advance into the Champions League final against Bayern.

Meanwhile for Inter Milan, they will surely sweep that loss under the rug as they look win the Champions League for the first time since 1965.

Over the last weekend, Barcelona were able to defeat Xerez by a 3-1 score to keep their narrow one-point lead in La Liga while Inter were able to beat Atalanta by a 3-1 score to retake first in Serie A.

In this match, the one thing that you could certainly expect to happen will be Barcelona not only looking to get off to a strong, attacking start, but they will likely keep that up for the entire match.

As for Inter, they will also try to counter this attack whenever they can, as Barcelona's defense could become vulnerable at times as they look to score.

Team News

For Barcelona, they will be without last year's semifinal savior Andres Iniesta (right thigh) along with Eric Abidal (groin tear) due to injury.

Barcelona will also be without Carles Puyol due to suspension, and they could be without Dani Alves and Gerard Pique if they make it to the Champions League final due to accumulation of yellow cards.

Meanwhile for Jose Mourinho's Inter side, they will be without Davide Santon (knee), Francesco Toldo (leg), Goran Pandev (thigh), and Dejan Stankovic (suspension) for this match.

Along with that, Barcelona could find themselves without Samuel Eto'o, Maicon, Walter Samuel, and Javier Zanetti if they get to the Champions League final if any of them get a caution during this match.

But Wesley Sneijder will be back for this match after getting pulled early in the last match against Atalanta due to a slight hamstring problem.

Players to Watch

For Barcelona, you might think that the main player to watch would be Lionel Messi, but instead it will be Xavi for me, as he is the main catalyst for the Barcelona attack and his play will tell us how well Barcelona will play.

For Inter, it will have to be Wesley Sneijder, as he will most likely be pulled early in the match, but he is a player that could get Inter into the Champions League final (which was evident in the first leg).

Prediction

Another day, another fantastic Champions League semifinal second leg that we will get to watch.

To me, this is a matchup that I have been extremely stuck on choosing a winner as these are two sides that are not only worthy of making the Champions League final, but are worthy of winning the Champions League.

But, I will go with Barcelona in a 3-1 win, which will cause 30 minutes of extra-time as this fantastic matchup will go on for a little bit longer.

Whatever might happen in extra-time is a blur to me at this time, so I am unsure who will meet Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu in Madrid on May 22.