Barcelona vs Inter: Champions League goalscorer bets and more
by Tyler Doty | by Tyler Doty
Will the Flick show continue with Barcelona?
The second semi-final first leg of the UEFA Champions League takes place on Wednesday evening at 3 pm ET (live on CBS Sports). FC Barcelona will be at home against Bayern conquerors Inter. The Catalans under coach Hansi Flick have already won two titles this season, winning an exciting Clasico in the Copa del Rey at the weekend 3:2 after extra time against Real Madrid. But of course, Barca also want to bag the two remaining titles.
The team will go into the game against Inter as favorites, as Barcelona are in excellent form, having notched up win after win in recent weeks and also managed to improve their footballing form. At the same time, Inter have suffered a few setbacks recently and have lost points in the fight for the title.
Games like these always have a particularly high significance, as it is of course about reaching the final. Inter and Barcelona both want to get there and are naturally relying on their top stars and the best attacking players. The focus will be on them in particular, as the best players always play in such matches. And the individual class is very high on both sides! Goalscorer bets are already popular in general, but even more so during this period of a competition. That's why we're also providing you with an overview of likely goal scorers in this match!
Barcelona against Inter: One top striker missing
If you look at the clash between Barcelona and Inter, you can quickly see that one top striker will be missing in this semi-final, namely, Robert Lewandowski. The Pole has to recover from an injury and would probably only be available again in a possible final. Bear this in mind for your Champions League predictions. Nevertheless, with players such as Ferran Torres, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, Barcelona have enough options to generate offensive goalscoring threat.
In general, it is good news in terms of the quality of play that there are hardly any absentees on either side. As a neutral spectator in particular, you always want to see the best players on the pitch in the top games. Also, because then there can be no excuses on either side of the pitch.
FC Barcelona: Raphina back in the spotlight?
As already mentioned, FC Barcelona will have to do without Robert Lewandowski. This is important information for our Barcelona vs Inter prediction. The Pole is injured, but Hansi Flick's attacking line still has plenty of other options. One hot candidate for a goal is Raphinha. The 28-year-old is having an absolutely formidable season with the Catalans and has developed into one of Barca's most important players under Hansi Flick. With 30 goals and 23 assists, this is also backed up statistically.
His rate in the Champions League alone is fantastic. Twelve games, twelve goals, one goal every 85 minutes. It's no wonder that Rapinha remains the favorite to find the back of the net, according to the sportsbooks. From +155 to +240 there is a lot to choose from, also because Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres can be expected to score at any time.
Will Lautaro Martinez remain a knockout specialist?
Admittedly, Inter's offense is not quite as impressive as Barcelona's this season, but a fit forward duo consisting of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram can stress any opponent. This was also the case in the quarter-final against FC Bayern. Lautaro scored in both the first and second leg. The Argentine is a specialist in these games and has already scored a total of 21 times this season. He has scored eight of these goals in the Champions League, where he scores every 81 minutes.
It will certainly not be easy for him to score against Barcelona, but Inter have a good chance of carving out opportunities, especially with their double attack against a high-scoring defense. The odds for a Lautaro goal hover around +260 but he is the absolute favorite to score for Inter.
