Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi has decided to start Denzel Dumfries and Marcus Thuram against Barcelona. This evening’s Champions League semi-final first leg clash kicks off at 21.00 CET at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.
This evening, Inter Milan take on Barcelona on hostile turf. Simone Inzaghi’s men head into proceedings seeking redemption for recent domestic setbacks.
Indeed, they have lost three successive matches without scoring, making for bleak reading ahead of this European blockbuster.
I nostri 11 ⚫️🔵#ForzaInter #UCL #BarcellonaInter pic.twitter.com/bFeiCNhqn0
— Inter ⭐⭐ (@Inter) April 30, 2025
Furthermore, Barcelona have been nearly unplayable in 2025, losing just once in 29 competitive outings.
Therefore, head coach Simone Inzaghi has decided to name the strongest starting eleven amid a subsiding injury crisis.
Denzel Dumfries & Marcus Thuram Are Finally Back
Firstly, the big news on the team sheet is the return of Denzel Dumfries.
Indeed, the Dutch wingback has regained full fitness and will start on the left wing.
Then, in goal Yann Sommer retains his place between the sticks ahead of Josep Martinez.
In defense, meanwhile, it is the trio of Yann Bisseck, Francesco Acerbi, and Alessandro Bastoni. Then, Benjamin Pavard is out with an ankle injury.
On the left flank, meanwhile, Federico Dimarco keeps his place in the starting lineup despite an underwhelming performance against Roma.
🚨 BARÇA XI 🚨#BarçaInter @ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/w8m804BHnc
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 30, 2025
Meanwhile, Denzel Dumfries is back, meaning Matteo Darmian drops to the bench.
Moreover, in midfield, Nicolo Barella moves into a box-to-box midfield role. Therefore, Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan complete the trio.
After failing to impress against Roma, Davide Frattesi returns to the bench as the Armenian gets the nod in midfield.
Lastly, Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram lead the line. As such, Marko Arnautovic remains on the bench. The same goes for Mehdi Taremi.
In addition to Pavard, Joaquin Correa is not in contention after being omitted from Inter’s UEFA list.
Official Starting Lineups – Barcelona vs Inter Milan: Dumfries & Thuram Start
BARCELONA (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Koundé, Cubarsí, Iñigo Martinez, Martin; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Dani Olmo, Raphinha; Ferran Torres.
Bench: Iñaki Peña, Kochen, Araujo, Garcia, Christensen, Fort, Pablo Torre, Gavi, Fermin Lopez, Pau Victor, Ansu Fati.
Coach: Flick.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Balde, Lewandowski, Casadó, Bernal.
INTER (3-5-2): Sommer; Bisseck, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Thuram, Lautaro.
Bench: Martinez, Di Gennaro, De Vrij, Re Cecconi, Carlos Augusto, Darmian, Zalewski, Asllani, Frattesi, Zielinski, Taremi, Arnauotivc.
Coach: Inzaghi.
Suspended: none.
Unavailable: Pavard.
Referee: Turpin.
Assistants: Danos and Pages.
Fourth official: Letexier.
Var: Brisard and Delajod.
Inzaghi is buns. He is a close second to conte when it comes to stubbornness and close minded, outdated tactics. Next season we’ll sign some slow midfielders and two average pace strikers with no dribbling ability. Some of us will praise the signings and continue to appreciate not winning any UCL while facing “ the best teams in the world”. I call that loser mentality.
Typical young micropenis comment
Why are you worried about my penis? It doesn’t want you bro. Chill! Get your emotions in check; men don’t get so emotional this quick lol
The draw means nothing if inter lose to Barca at San Siro. They almost lost to Bayern.
There you are. I though Barcelona was going to demolish Inter by 7 goals to 0. You were no where to be seen during the game. Are you okay, buddy?
It is clear that Barcelona player are superior than Inter. However, Inter showed some character. I hope we could win -even in a small margin- in Milan. It is clear that DiMarco could not handle Yamal.
I just want to post this comment and will not revisit again. I am tired with all the negativity about Inter and Inzaghi. For those who always post a negative post in this site, I hope you have a wonderful life.
I used to come often here during my master study in Sweden in 2013, but since there is a lot of toxic things in this comment section. This fan base is not a good website for me -too much negativity drain you sometimes-. Deep appreciation for Inzaghi and the team. Forza Inter!
Would upvote this if I could. I no longer visit the comments section nearly as often. I check every now and then, just to find out it’s the same or worse. Like a commenter above literally getting emotional over a disrespectful response to their comment, and accusing the responder of being emotional themselves. Then I make my own assumptions that these are juve trolls or that they’ve not been fans for very long. Because I believe if you’ve been a supporter of Inter long enough, yes you’ll be frustrated after today, but you’ll realize not that long ago we were in a banter eta. It’s been a while since I’ve heard someone say Pazza Inter.
I don’t judge you for wanting to leave. Hopefully someday soon we can all be better humans. And the door will be open.
For everyone else hating on Inzaghi or this team, just compare them to idk circa 2011-2015 Inter when we were finishing sub-6th in the table, something like 6-7 different managers in 4 years, etc. You’ll feel better.
Forza Inter since ’99
My nickname on the old board was “sad cause you all mad” and I would only comment to shut up toxic ones if possible. Still the same like then. That sucks
This is the best result Inzaghi could get with this old A*s team against Barcelona. Anyone blaming him is so unfair and dishonest at this point.
Great work. To go with this kind of Barca 3:3 is an absolute success. Inzaghi done a great job with 0 support from transfer market, and with these kind of subs. Hopefully we can win home. We need younger, faster players, they killed us with their high speed game, we had a lot of luck to draw
Pazza Inter amala.
Good result, would have taken a draw before the game. Had good chances to win and some chances to lose as well. Yamal is most dangerous player on the field and must be stopped. Inter stop him and a win will happen! Forza Inter
I’m proud of the guys, i had almost no hope before the game and they once again showed me i should always believe.
i totally like Inzaghi! he is a heroic coach!
Yes he does wonder with empty hands
Those who say otherwise, aren’t worthwhile listening to. Their lack of self-knowledge is obvious and the transferrence on to Inzaghi is rather… well… not too bright. Even Cassano, disregarding a cognitive style as if no thinker ever won a football match – ever! Inzaghi is a genious. Give the man the support he deserves!
IMO it is important that Augusto starts over Dimarco. The second half should be the template on how to play them. Overall we were a bit better than them.
With all due respect for them, Taremi and Frattesi were useless. We were with 9 players when they were officially on the pitch.
agree. Carlos did great against Yamal
Agreed, he should start whenever we needs a defensive performance on that side
Inzaghi haters should be quiet.
It’s quite an accomplishment to get 3:3 away at Barcelona with Lautaro not available for 2nd half. Now let’s get the win with Meazza rocking!
Inter performed well and it’s clear that quality players raise their levels when it comes to big matches. Today this was clear for both sides. Great performance against a tough opponent this positive result will keep aways the trolls for a few day Lol. Forza Inter
davide is crying right now
i didnt saw him since kick-off. I believe Thuram shut his mouth off..
We just need to press a little bit, they lose theor game, and we can press fxkong great !
We had luck, bit they had it also… Second half looked much better. Augusto proved himself in defence pretty decent against the 17 years old prodigy 😀 First half zero, second half matched even, good effort for our guys !
Both teams gassed out at the end. We played good but hopefully lautaro is fit by next leg. We should be so thankful for Dumfries and Thuram, especially Dumfries. He cannot be sellable at this point
what a game. iNzAghI is SHiT. I swear to god give him a strong bench and he will rarely lose or drop.
during our last 10 years inter used to get slapped by the likes of bayern barca arsenal and monaco… yes monaco …
show some respect mofos…. HE HAS NO FKN BENCH!!!! Lauti got an injury he has to rely on taremi or arna… fuck the haters
forza inter. forza inzaghi
There are idiots saying that coming out of Barcelona with a 3:3 result in a CL semi-final is mediocrity. It’s laughable. Imagine thinking that the following is mediocrity: 1. 4th place tied with Barca, Arsenal and only 2 points away from first place Liverpool. 2. Making easy work of Feyenoord. 3. Eliminating Bayern (while winning at their home). 4. Coming out of Barcelona with a 3:3 result. You must be brain-dead to not see what an achievement this team has already accomplished, even if we don’t make it through. We don’t have the budget that these teams have, so Marotta and Inzaghi make wonders with the very few resources we have. Some of you nitpick so much that you don’t even realize the position that this club is in. Barcelona is the best team in the world; they’re supposed to score 5+ goals but we only conceded 3 while scoring 3 in the process. They were never ahead of us in the scoreline and that’s all that matters. How tf is that not impressive from Inter. Instead of glazing Barcelona and nitpicking at the squad (Inzaghi’s rotation, the squad’s age, etc), why don’t you celebrate a little. We still have another game to go and we have demonstrated that we can hurt them as much as they can hurt us. We are a dangerous team from set pieces and counter-attacking from the flanks. We are also pretty decent defensively. Have faith in this team. Ever since Inzaghi took over, we’ve been knocking at the Big Boy’s club. We are missing a few pieces, sure, but we are capable of pulling it off with a little luck (like we had tonight and against Bayern). Forza Inter
someone with actual sense… you are absolutely CORRECT!
The art of getting the machine to run on fumes and less…
This is definitely working!!!!!!!!!!! Well performed. What a game. Coincidence???? Last time when we were here it is also 3-3. LOL. And home is 1-0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh well looking at it now a draw is good , but first half was a nightmare.
We were decent in second half , that was real unlucky goal we conceded and also very unlucky on that disallowed goal
Heads held high boys!! heads held high!! don’t care what plastic fans or Inzaghi bashers say.. in the last 20 days we played bayern home and away, bologna, bilan,.Roma and now Barca. this too by a team with an average starting age of 31+. proud of u inter!
Exactly.
I even didn’t think that we would be at the semifinal and 2nd position in the league from the start of the season.
With ac milan’s and juve’s crazy transfer, also Conte at Napoli, we are still having a better season than them, despite the possibility of trophiless this season.
couldn’t have said it better myself. this inter is over performing with rejects from other clubs. Inzaghi if he gets good players will make inter
Why take out Thuram and Dumfries?
Fatigue.
They are just coming back from injury.
Why do you think you are smarter than Inzaghi and his coaching team??
Jzzz, keyboard warrior.
Great performance by the team. Despite conceding some silly goals, the team deserves congratulations. It’s not easy to play against Barcelona at home. Now, we’ll decide the match at home. That’s why I think we’ve come out of this match with a small advantage.
this looks like a victory ✌
This ref needs to be investigated
How do you f up a throw in?? Is darmian mentally ill?
Why take out Dumfries and Thuram? There are things I can’t understand about Inzagui.
Inzaghi just got an email from Barca’s president. haha
You think they can just go on forever, you fucking idiot? I don’t think you know better than the coach.
You’re an idiot, you jerk. It’s a shame that users of your level frequent the site.
It’s dream to stay 3:3.
Inzaghi took out our best player!!! Lmao the jokes write themselves
Lack of wingers are killing Inter. We have no pace and no natural talent to attack from the wings apart from our defenders. Again I HATE this formation!!!
There is no wingers in 3-5-2 format
My point exactly. This formation sucks buns
This formation just got away with a 3-3 away from home against the best team in the world at the moment. It can’t be that bad.
The best team in the world you say. I consider Inter the best team in the world with terrible tactics lol. Jokes aside I do think PSG is the best team in the world and Barca is a close second BUT they aren’t and should never be considered far from our level. We just have a dumb coach and that’s it
Its like we have 4 Asslani’s in the middle 😀
At this point I just want to be entertained
you were not?
I thought after Man Utd – Lyon 5-4 game 2 weeks ago, there won’t be another match that come close.
This match had the potential to be a CINEMA
And some are the Asslani of the comment section. Blissfull ignorance of not being too bright, finding meaning in others anger. That is how a two year old feel powerful, as if being able to change the mood of others in the surroundings is a skill. Still waiting for an opportunity to develop beyond that toddler stage?
Sommer is very unlucky. He can’t concede a goal like that. Raphinha was free to finish.
it looks like a futsal game now
Dumfries monster! I hope the team doesn’t retreat again. God is with us.
Spoke too soon
Inzaghi has no tactics and just throws anybody on. How can we continue with such mediocrity?!
Inzaghi should put biseck as a striker instead of taremi.
I liked C. Augusto’s entry. He marks better than Dimarco
It was nice dream to be up 2:0.
That ended too quick
Dimarco couldn’t have missed that goal
What happen to Lauti?
Non contact injury in first half
If we had a winger coming off this side. We would have scored where Dimarco missed. I hate this formation sooooo much!!!! IT STIFLES CREATIVITY
You meant individual creativity from typical wingers??
Taremi? I give up on Inzagui
Who then? Benzema? Messi? Mbappe?
Who does he have on the bench?
It is primarily a mentality thing. Yes, ofc they will sit back as Barca is on full attacking mode. But when they get the ball, they should not make wrong passes. This is out of fear. Barca is leaving a lot of space behind. With cool heads one can score in counterattacks, as long as they pass well.
34% possession. This is a disgrace. I was hoping the first half would end. May God help us score another goal, or sustain this draw.
Sometimes I wonder if you people are real inter fans or just bots, you need to support your team no matter what good and bad, we are pazza inter we will suffer and win as always, so better to be part of us as brothers or leave us alone, inter winning tonite watch us win the second half
Half time thoughts. 1- Barcelona has a young fast team, Inter trying to back pass in our own defensive 1/3 it is the most stupid strategy by a coach, they need to clear the ball out of the defensive end as soon as possible and stop playing cute football in front our own box. DiMarco is get beat none stop, I have no idea what is going on with him? He is slow and of physical sharpness, needs to be replaced or have some sorta reinforcement behind him, 3- Inter players need to stop making mistakes by passing the balls to Barcelona players every two mins. We are lucky they only scored two goals so far, because we are getting beat in the midfield every single times by our slow old players.
Mikhi and Dimarco are liabilities defensively, Bayern too exposing our left side with Olise, especially Dimarco he always leave too much space and too slow in closing the gap, Inzaghi needs to be brave pushing Hakan to AMC role so we can counter than just be a sitting duck, Atalanta had good success with that role against Barca Milan Juve who we struggle with this whole season
Can Inter find a way to skip the remaining 45 minutes Lol. Some Inter players are so afraid to pass around its unreal. Barca lost another defender plus they played their final recently so more will get tired but Inter must put more pressure in trying to win the ball and not just watch them pass and pick out dangerous players
Barca will win 5-2. Yes I said it.
Goodnight!
Dimarco is good only for Serie A. Has absolutely nothing to say in CL.
With a tiny number of exceptions, Italian players are not fit for high-level football. They are so slow, lack dribbling skills and have basic deficiencies in tactical awareness. Look at Barca’s academy players for comparision.
They’re so good at trusting their youth. We, on the other hand, trust retired players. LOL
Even Frattesi and Asllani who were bought with money were rotted on the bench last season, even when we had practically secured the Scudetto and they could have played without any harm.
The moment that changed the game was when Bastoni put his fingers on Yamal’s face. The kid got angry.
It’s still a great result. Although it will be difficult to hold them back. The team needs to come out from behind and attack them more. I hope Lautaro comes back, if not, may God help us.
Inter’s two attacks resulted in two goals. Inter must ensure they try to launch more attacks. I don’t see Inter defending for the remaining 45 minutes without conceding so better to score another goal
we are playing like empoli or genoa or something…
dreaming of a draw today
FYI Barca is missing 3 starters – ter stegen, balde (left back) and lewa. Gavi on the bench.
And they just played Real Madrid for 120 minutes. Yet they have owned us all half, we got a whole other half to play and we can’t string 3 passes together smh
Cahala is so Aslani I can’t even
I hope Lautaro can stay on
man, wth they are doing?? even passing is so problematic
I understand ro go a bit back while leading, but Laitaro and Thiram dedending on 16 m, man… Every little pressure we had, was good, yet still we go full bus, wtf -.- Didn’t expect mich, but also not this bad
Barella- Cahala and Basstoni have been sleeping
I’m not gonna lie this Barca team is on a different level. We are doing well so far just to be even
barcelona and PSG has been on a different level so far this season.
liverpool is unable to replicate their domestic form against PSG.
To be fair we deserve to be behind atm not level with Barca, we did score 2 nice goals but we have been uter sht so far.
Experience is key. Lol…
Ngl watching Barca is beautiful. How a team can be so coordinated is unreal and the talent at their disposal is leagues above ours. I’m in awe
Bisseck’s mistake
watching a chinese stream. the commentator were saying mkhi is giving up balls in midfield.
Now Bastoni is doing Bisseck shit
You know what for my mental health I’m gonna stop watching this game. I been saying all half we cannot sit back and invite them to keep attacking it’s a matter of time for them to score and now they are back level, matter of time before they lead.
But if they win this game by 3 goals we have no chance next game.
Im going to do the same. You can’t sit back against the most attacking team in the world.
The reality is our team is not capable to keep the possession in front of Barca, not they dont want to.
Agree, any team would sit back against this Barca. Yamal looks like floating in the air instead of running on the ground. It was clear months ago that the UCL is theirs this season.
Back to level. The Thuram and Dumfries goals are even more appreciated. Barca talents just unreal.
If these talents were in serie a, they would have been loaned to serie W by now… Daft league… Inter cannot even put 3 consecutive passes together.. Laughable…
Bisseck’s defensive error. I don’t know why Inzagui still insists on him. Now it will be difficult to hold them back.
Barella and Chala has been shit
Bisseck looking for hot air balloons
Completely lost
Terrible terrible player
Told you.
It was nice to be winning for half an hour.
Barca are making us look like Sunday school footballers lol. I actually just want this game to end already
We have to reinforce the marking on Yamal. I hope Inzagui is aware of this.
We wanted Asllani to become like Hakan. Instead, Hakan is becoming like Asllani.
The defense failed again. We have to be especially careful with Yamal, otherwise it will be difficult. We also need to keep more possession of the ball.
Yamal is our issue. The rest of them are harmless without him.
Bisseck’s defensive error. I don’t know why Inzagui still insists on him. Now it will be difficult to hold them back.
Yamal is excellent. Really non stoppable.
It’s good that we are leading – at the moment. But we cannot, cannnnoootttt sit back and invite them to keep attacking. It’s a matter of time for them to lead like this. We gotta attack and play ball to hold them back.
I was afraid of disaster and we winning 2:0. Wow. OK no 2:1.
Now 2:1.*
Pope Francis is definitely on our side today
HOLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Inzaghi lost the recent games as he was busy studying Barca.
Damn goal! That’s my Inter
That how champions are made
Bissek is not Inter material, he will never be
Great goal by Thuram !! Barca will go ultra attack mode now let’s hope we can hold on but it’s gonna be tough. We need to attack and not sit deep and invite them
Faith in our team – respect to true fans
And Thuram already on target
HOLY WHAT A GOAL!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful goal by Thuram.
Please tell me my TV isn’t kidding. lol
Lamine is injured himself in shooting training before the kick of
I have seen a lots of non Inter supporters who have more have more faith in Inter Milan than some supporters in this site.
Please let’s have faith in our beloved team
thanks true fan
Faith? Lol.. Okay
Do you even understand what the word mean? Not mere willy nilly belief, as you in your own projections, mistaking yourself for whatever is less than ideal in Serie A. Faith is a choice. A choice making what you work for (in faith), will bear fruits. Not Belief – big B, but working towards something bigger with enthusiasm. Without you might as well be August Comte.
May luck be with us.
I have no expectations from this game based on the horror week we had, losing the coppa semi to a mid table team and losing to Roma who’s not even top 5. Also not scoring in the last 3 games and losing the last 3 games. This team is mentally weak and can’t ever be compared to the legendary treble team as it was comically couple weeks ago.
We can be proud of the team for coming far but we can’t be happy with the performance because losing 2 competitions in a week is not something to be happy about.
In this game, if we lose by 3 goals or more we won’t have a chance to comeback because in recent years our weakness in Europe have been Spanish teams. Let’s see how this team responds today after the horrendous week.
We have our chances tonight, but even if we lose, we have achieved our goal to go far in the UCL. As a team with a budget of Italian standards, we should be especially aware that winning this competition is quite hard for any team. What it will be the regret is if we end up with no silverware in Italy, where we clearly have the best team available and winning trophies is a must.
Yes I agree with you.
Our team in Italy is the best when it comes to squad depth and overall team. But to not win anything this season will be devastating, I still think Inzaghi is not a great coach but a good one.
Napoli in their whole history of existence won 2 scudetto… inzaghi have won 1 in 4 years. Napoli will have 2 league titles in the era of Inzaghi – after losing Kim, osimhen, zielinski, and kvara.