Barcelona in need of repeat show

FC Barcelona have already beaten FC Internazionale Milano once at home this season and they need a repeat performance if they are to claim a place in next month's UEFA Champions League final.

• José Mourinho's visitors may have performed well on their travels in recent rounds but they lost 2-0 at the Camp Nou in November and have never won a semi-final away leg in Europe's elite club competition.

• The Italian champions hold the upper hand in the tie, however, despite Pedro Rodríguez's 19th-minute strike at San Siro. Wesley Sneijder levelled on the half-hour, and second-half goals from Maicon (48) and Diego Milito (61) left Barcelona with plenty of work to do in the second leg.

• For two-time winners Inter, the goal is a first final appearance since 1972. Josep Guardiola's Barcelona, by contrast, are looking to take the penultimate step towards becoming the first team since Inter's neighbours AC Milan 20 years ago to win back-to-back European crowns.

• In a contest rich in sub-plots, Inter coach Mourinho returns once more to the club he served as assistant coach and he is not alone, with Nerazzurri players Samuel Eto'o, Thiago Motta and Ricardo Quaresma all having enjoyed spells at the Camp Nou.

Previous meetings
• These two sides need no introduction having met last autumn in the group stage. They drew 0-0 at San Siro on 16 September before reconvening in Barcelona on 24 November, the Catalan side prevailing through first-half strikes from Gerard Piqué and Pedro.

• The clubs had previously met in the UEFA Champions League second group stage in 2002/03. Barcelona were 3-0 winners at the Camp Nou on 18 February 2003. Goals from Javier Saviola, Phillip Cocu and Patrick Kluivert secured a ninth successive victory in the UEFA Champions League proper, still a competition record.

• The return the following week finished goalless and both teams progressed to the quarter-finals, Barcelona as group winners. Yet Inter went further that season, reaching the last four.

• Inter's Javier Zanetti and Barcelona pair Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernández played in both matches, with Andrés Iniesta an unused substitute at San Siro.

Match background
• Barcelona have won four out of five European home games so far this season yet their recent semi-final record at the Camp Nou is less impressive.

• Oddly for a team famed for their attacking football – and who have averaged 2.6 goals per home game in the 2009/10 competition – the Catalan side have failed to find the net in their past four home semi-final matches in the UEFA Champions League.

• Barcelona have played in ten previous semi-finals and their record is five wins and five defeats:
2008/09 Chelsea FC: 0-0 (h), 1-1 (a)
2007/08 Manchester United FC: 0-0 (h), 0-1 (a)
2005/06 AC Milan: 1-0 (a), 0-0 (h)
2001/02 Real Madrid CF: 0-2 (h), 1-1 (a)
1999/2000 Valencia CF: 1-4 (a), 2-1 (h)
1993/94 FC Porto: 3-0 (h)
1985/86 IFK Göteborg: 0-3 (a), 3-0 (h, 5-4 pens)
1974/75 Leeds United AFC: 1-2 (a), 1-1 (h)
1960/61 Hamburger SV: 1-0 (h), 1-2 (a), 1-0 (replay)
1959/60 Real Madrid CF: 1-3 (a), 1-3 (h)

• Blaugrana coach Guardiola played in the Barcelona side that defeated Porto in the 1993/94 semi-final, which was a one-off match. There was no semi-final stage in the 1991/92 competition.

• The Spanish club were twice successful in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals against Serie A sides, overcoming ACF Fiorentina in 1997 and Juventus in 1991.

• Overall Barcelona's home record against Italian opponents is W9 D4 L2. They also have a decent record in two-legged ties against teams from the country, with five victories and three defeats.

• Barcelona have won 11 ties in UEFA competition when they have lost the first leg away from home – although they have gone down in the other 11, most recently in the 2003/04 UEFA Cup fourth round when a 1-0 defeat at Celtic FC preceded a goalless draw at the Camp Nou.

• Of the four times they have been defeated 3-1 in an away opener, Barcelona have lost two ties and won the other two, most recently in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals when they succumbed at Chelsea FC but won 5-1 after extra time in Catalonia.

• Barcelona lifted the European Cup for the first time after beating Italy's UC Sampdoria 1-0 in the 1992 final at Wembley. They lost the 1994 final 4-0 to Milan.

• Inter boast a decent record on their travels in this season's UEFA Champions League, with three wins from five games.

• The Italian titleholders won at Chelsea and PFC CSKA Moskva in the preceding knockout rounds though they will not need reminding that their solitary defeat so far this campaign came at the Camp Nou.

• Inter have played in seven previous semi-finals in Europe's elite club competition. Their record is four victories and three defeats:
2002/03 AC Milan: 0-0 (a), 1-1 (h)
1980/81 Real Madrid CF: 0-2 (a), 1-0 (h)
1971/72 Celtic FC: 0-0 (h), 0-0 (a, 5-4 pens)
1966/67 PFC CSKA Sofia: 1-1 (h), 1-1 (a), 1-0 (replay in Bologna)
1965/66 Real Madrid CF: 0-1 (a), 1-1 (h)
1964/65 Liverpool FC: 1-3 (a), 3-0 (h)
1963/64 BV Borussia Dortmund: 2-2 (a), 2-0 (h)

• Besides losing two European Cup semi-finals to Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid, Inter also succumbed to Madrid twice at the semi-final stage of the UEFA Cup in 1984/85 and 1985/86.

• On a happier note, the Nerazzurri achieved the first of their two European Cup successes by defeating Madrid 3-1 in the 1964 final in Vienna.

• The visitors' record in Spain does not make good reading for Interisti: they have lost 12 of 17 matches with three wins and two draws.

• Inter also have a poor record in two-legged ties against teams from Spain, with four victories and nine defeats from 13 contests.

• However, the Italian champions have a formidable record when winning the first leg at home in UEFA competition, emerging triumphant in all but four of the 43 ties in which they have recorded an initial victory. They have already eliminated Chelsea and CSKA this season after a first-leg win at San Siro.

• Inter have won 3-1 at home in a first leg five times and gone on to progress on four occasions. The one blip, however, came against a Spanish side as they succumbed to a 5-1 extra-time defeat at Real Madrid in the 1985/86 UEFA Cup semi-finals.

• Inter's last two knockout games in Spain both brought UEFA Champions League elimination on away goals – against Valencia CF in the 2006/07 round of 16 and against Villarreal CF in the previous season's quarter-finals. The Villarreal defeat was the last time the Milan club were knocked out after a home first-leg win.

• Their last win in Spain was their most spectacular, 5-1 at Valencia in the 2004/05 group stage. Iván Córdoba, Esteban Cambiasso, Marco Materazzi and Dejan Stanković all started the game with Zanetti featuring as a substitute.

• Inter coach Mourinho's record in UEFA Champions League semi-finals is mixed. He led Porto past RC Deportivo La Coruña in 2004 but fell at this stage with Chelsea in 2005 and 2007.

• Mourinho is hoping to lead Inter to the UEFA Champions League six years after winning it with Porto. Only Ernst Happel (Feyenoord 1970, Hamburg 1983) and Ottmar Hitzfeld (Borussia Dortmund 1997, FC Bayern München 2001) have won the European Cup as coaches of two different clubs. Bayern's Louis van Gaal, a winner with AFC Ajax in 1995, is also attempting the feat this time round.

Team ties
• Mourinho served as an assistant to the late Sir Bobby Robson and Van Gaal at Barcelona from 1996 to 2000.

• As Chelsea manager Mourinho oversaw a 5-4 aggregate defeat of Barcelona in the 2004/05 first knockout round but suffered a 3-2 overall loss at the same stage the next season. The 2006/07 campaign brought another reunion, this time in the group stage, with Chelsea finishing above Barça after a 1-0 home win and 2-2 away draw.

• Guardiola played in Italy between 2001 and 2003, making 24 appearances in Serie A for Brescia Calcio and another four for AS Roma.

• Inter forward Diego Milito, 30, could line up against his 29-year-old brother Gabriel of Barcelona. The Argentinian siblings played together for two seasons with Real Zaragoza between 2005 and 2007.

• Only three sets of brothers have played against each other in UEFA club competition: Johannes (Celtic) and Atli Edvaldsson (Valur Reykjavík) in the first round of the 1974/75 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Ronald (PSV Eindhoven) and Erwin Koeman (KV Mechelen) in the 1988 UEFA Super Cup and John Arne (Roma) and Bjørn Helge Riise (Fulham FC) in this season's UEFA Europa League group stage.

• During his three-year spell at Inter, Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimović hit 57 goals in 88 Serie A appearances and six in 22 UEFA Champions League games.

• An unused substitute for Barcelona at San Siro in September, Maxwell was also with Inter for three years from 2006 to 2009. The Brazilian full-back made 79 appearances in Serie A and scored two goals.

• Eto'o spent five seasons with Barcelona from 2004. The Cameroon striker hit 109 goals in 144 league appearances, including 30 last season. In the UEFA Champions League he registered 18 in 43 games, scoring Barcelona's first goals in the final triumphs of 2006 and 2009.

• Motta made 96 league appearances for Barcelona between 2002 and 2007, scoring six goals. He was an unused substitute in the Blaugrana's 2-1 UEFA Champions League final defeat of Arsenal FC in 2006.

• Quaresma spent 2003/04 at the Camp Nou, making 22 Liga appearances and scoring once.

• Thierry Henry scored twice for Arsenal in a 5-1 win at Inter in the 2003/04 group stage. The France forward previously suffered a UEFA Cup semi-final defeat at Inter's hands when playing for AS Monaco FC in 1996/97.

• Former Barcelona forward Jordi Cruyff – son of Camp Nou favourite Johan – hit the opening goal for Deportivo Alavés when they became the only Spanish team to beat Inter in Milan, prevailing 2-0 in a UEFA Cup fourth-round tie in 2000/01.

• Barcelona's shoot-out record in UEFA club competitions is:
5-4 v Lech Poznań, 1988/89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
0-2 v FC Steaua Bucureşti, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup final
5-4 v IFK Göteborg, 1985/86 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final
4-1 v RSC Anderlecht, 1978/79 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup second round
3-1 v Ipswich Town FC, 1977/78 UEFA Cup third round
5-4 v AZ Alkmaar, 1977/78 UEFA Cup second round

• Inter's record is:
1-4 v FC Schalke 04, 1996/97 UEFA Cup final
5-3 v Grazer AK, 1996/97 UEFA Cup second round
3-4 v Aston Villa FC, 1994/95 UEFA Cup first round
5-4 v Celtic FC, 1971/72 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-final

• The victorious team will advance to the final at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in Madrid on 22 May where they will play either Bayern or Olympique Lyonnais.