Perhaps the biggest challenge of the season so far comes this Tuesday at 9pm CEST, as Inter and FC Barcelona lock horns once again in the second act of what, thus far, has been a fascinating Champions League semi-final contest.

all about the game in our match center

On Wednesday, the teams drew 3-3 in a scintillating encounter at the Estadi Olimpic. Inter stunned the home fans by taking a 2-0 lead, but by half-time Barça had already done enough to level the scores. The Catalans looked poised to go on and score more, but Inter then added a third before Raphinha's free kick rattled off the bar and in off goalkeeper Yan Sommer to make it three each.

Barça had 70% of the possession and tripled the number of shots on goal that their opponents mustered, but despite plenty more incident, no further goals followed. It feels like an opportunity squandered, for Barça have no advantage to take with them to the Giuseppe Meazza, where we'll find out which of these two sides will be joining PSG or Arsenal in the final in Munich on May 31. The Parisians have the edge in that one after winning the first leg 1-0 in London.

Barça team news

Hansi Flick opted to rest several of his more regular players for the league game against Real Valladolid at the weekend, but an injury to Dani Rodríguez and the fact that his team was trailing 1-0 meant the likes of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha ended up playing in an eventual 2-1 win.

The big news in the Barça camp is that Robert Lewandowski is back in the side after a four-game spell out through injury, although the insinuation from Flick was that the Pole will start Tuesday's game on the bench. However, although Marc Andre ter Stegen is back, he is not registered for the Champions League, and so Wojciech Szczęsny will be back doing duties between the posts.

Jules Koundé, Alejandro Balde, Marc Casadó and Marc Bernal are also injured and have stayed in Catalonia.

Inter latest

Nerazzurri coach Simone Inzaghi clearly had this contest far more in mind at the weekend too. Although Inter desperately need every point they can get to keep up the pressure on Serie A leaders Napoli, Yann Bisseck was the sole repeat player from the game with Barça as Inter squeezed their way past Hellas Verona 1-0.

The big story in the Italian camp concerns star striker Lautaro Martinez. The Argentinian withdrew from the first leg with an injury, but the word is that he should be able to feature on Tuesday, if not from the start. Frenchman Benjamin Pavard, a key component of the Inter defence, is faring less well in his own race against the clock to be ready in time.

Did you know?

Denzel Dumfries' cheeky back-heel in the first leg was the fastest goal in Champions League semi-final history. In the same game, Lamine Yamal became the youngest player ever to score in this round.

Inter had only conceded five goals in 12 Champions League games this season, but in just 90 minutes Barça managed to score more than half that number against them.

barça's record away to inter

Barça are still on course for an unprecedented European treble this season. The U19s have already won the Youth League, the women are through to the UWCL final... and hopefully the men will be able to do likewise. But to do that they'll need to get past a side that has not lost in its last 15 Champions League games at the Giuseppe Meazza.

Cristiano Ronaldo (17 goals, four assists) holds the record for most goal participations in a single Champions League season. Raphinha needs just one more goal or assist to equal that record.

They say stats are only there to be broken, and let's hope that's the case in Milan on Tuesday. Barça have lost their last four away legs of UCL semi-finals and have only won away twice in 11 attempts in this round.

More positively, in more than half the ties where Barça have drawn the opening game at home in Europe, they have gone on to qualify.

Nine of Inter's probable starting XI featured in the final two years ago, which the Italians lost to Manchester City.

On the same evening (7pm CEST) Barça's basketball team also has a crunch European fixture. They're away to Monaco in the rubber match of a best-of-five series, with a place at the Final Four in store for the winners.

What they're saying

In his pre-game conference, Hansi Flick said: "When we began the season, nobody had any idea what we'd achieve. We've already won two titles this season. All the players have improved as the games have gone by. We're now in the Champions League semi-finals, and we have to enjoy this, enjoy playing with each other, and show everyone how good we are." FULL STORY HERE

Dani Olmo was the Barça player who spoke to the press, saying "It's clear that home advantage is important, but we have played in places like the Metropolitano, the Bernabéu and Signal Iduna Park and won or gone through. It's not something that worries us, it's a motivation." FULL STORY HERE

Lamine Yamal was outstanding in the first leg, and thoughts of what he might do in Milan have clearly been preying on Inter coach Simone Inzaghi's mind. "We need to keep him away from the ball, but it's impossible," he said on Monday. "Whether that is a double marking job or one player following him closely, we will try to always pay attention to him. He's such a great talent at 17 years old. Seeing him live, he's so dangerous. Everyone gives him the ball. What impressed me was his speed of thought, he's such a quick thinker. Even before receiving the ball, he always knows what move to make."

Alessandro Bastoni was similarly awestruck. "I had faced him at the Euros and he wasn't quite at this level yet" said the defender. I was impressed by how much he has improved."

Força Barça