Coppa Campioni semi-final line-ups: Barcelona vs. Inter

MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 04: The players of FC Internazionale celebrate as Federico Gatti of Juventus scores an own-goal during the Serie A TIM match between FC Internazionale and Juventus – Serie A TIM at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on February 04, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Marcus Thuram and Denzel Dumfries return to bolster the Inter XI with Lautaro Martinez in the Coppa Campioni semi-final, as Wojciech Szczesny and Lamine Yamal start for Barcelona.

It kicks off at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT, 21.00 CET), because Camp Nou is undergoing intensive restructuring work.

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.

The second leg will be at San Siro on Tuesday May 6.

Tough time for Inter

It has been a rough couple of weeks for Inter, who went from potential Treble winners to the very real risk of ending the season empty-handed.

They lost three in a row in all competition, going out of the Coppa Italia semi-final to Milan and sliding three points off new Serie A leaders Napoli.

Benjamin Pavard sprained his ankle during the 1-0 defeat to Roma on Sunday, so Yann Bisseck starts in defence.

The big news is the return of Thuram and Dumfries to the starting XI after injury, while Federico Dimarco can also take the left flank.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alessandro Bastoni are back after suspension at the fine settimana.

Barcelona up for the Treble

Barcelona were forced to extra time on Saturday, but beat Real Madrid 3-2 to lift the Copa del Rey, so they are still in the hunt for a Treble.

They lost the first Coppa Campioni game at AS Monaco and the most recent, 3-1 away to Borussia Dortmund after winning the first leg of that quarter-final 4-0.

All the others were victories, except for a 2-2 here with Atalanta on January 29.

The big loss is Robert Lewandowski with a thigh injury and he is a major doubt to be recovered for the second leg too.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal are long-term absentees with knee ligament injuries, while Alejandro Balde is also out.

That means Ferran Torres leads the attack with support from Lamine Yamal, Dani Olmo and Raphinha.

Ex-Juventus goalkeeper Szczesny starts, having retired at the end of last season only to be coaxed back over the ter Stegen injury.

Jose Mourinho’s Inter famously eliminated Barcelona in the Coppa Campioni semi-final on their way to the Treble in 2010.

Barcelona vs. Inter official line-ups

Barcelona: Szczesny; Koundé, Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez, Gerard Martin; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Ferran Torres

Barcelona bench: Iñaki Peña, Astralaga, Araujo, Gavi, Fati, Torre, Christensen, Fermin Lopez, Pau Victor, Eric Garcia, Fort

Inter: Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez, Thuram

Inter bench: Di Gennaro, J Martinez, De Vrij, Zielinski, Arnautovic, Frattesi, Asllani, Carlos Augusto, Darmian, Re Cecconi, Zalewski, Taremi

Ref: Turpin (FRA)