Internazionale v Barcelona facts

Barcelona are looking to make it four Group B wins out of four as they travel to Internazionale with a place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 within touching distance.

• Goals in each half from Rafinha and Jordi Alba continued Barça's winning start to the European season against Inter at the Camp Nou on matchday three, giving Ernesto Valverde's side a three-point cushion over their Italian opponents at the head of the standings.  

• With Tottenham and PSV level on one point, Barcelona will win the section with victory at San Siro, while Inter will make sure of their place in the round of 16 alongside their opponents if they win and Spurs-PSV ends all square.

Previous meetings
• Perhaps surprisingly for two clubs with such rich European history, the teams had played only six previous games before matchday three – all in the UEFA Champions League, and all since 2003.

• They met in the 2002/03 second group stage, Barcelona winning 3-0 in Spain before a goalless draw in Milan. The Spanish side finished first in Group A with Inter second, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals, while the Nerazzurri lost to neighbours AC Milan in the last four.

• Their next four fixtures all came in the 2009/10 edition, when the game in Milan again finished scoreless. A 2-0 victory in Spain followed for a Barcelona side coached by Josep Guardiola, Gerard Piqué scoring the first goal.

• Both again progressed to the knockout rounds and were reunited in the semi-finals, when Inter won the first leg 3-1 at San Siro. Despite a 1-0 defeat at the Camp Nou – via another Piqué goal – José Mourinho's Inter held on to reach the final, where they beat Bayern München to claim their third European title.

• Inter are therefore unbeaten in three home games against Barça, drawing the first two before winning the most recent.

Form guide
Inter
• Having scored two late goals to beat Tottenham 2-1 at San Siro on matchday one, Inter again came from behind in defeating PSV by the same scoreline in the Netherlands in their second fixture.

• The win against Spurs made it three successive home wins in Europe for Inter.

• Fourth in Serie A in 2017/18, Inter are the last Italian team to win the UEFA Champions League, in 2010 – their third European Cup triumph, and first in 45 years.

• This is the 12th time Inter have been in the group stage – but the first since 2011/12.

• Inter have progressed from their group in their last eight UEFA Champions League campaigns.

• Inter did not take part in UEFA competition in 2017/18; their most recent European campaign came the previous season, when they failed to progress from their UEFA Europa League group.

• The Nerazzurri's last game with Spanish opponents prior to matchday three was a 2-0 defeat by Atlético Madrid in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup in Monaco.

• That 3-1 defeat of Barcelona in April 2010 was Inter's last home game against Spanish visitors; they are unbeaten in their last eight games against Liga opposition at San Siro (W3 D5) stretching back to a 2-0 loss to Alavés in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup fourth round. That is their sole defeat at home to a Spanish club in 18 fixtures (W9 D8).

Barcelona
• Valverde's side won 4-2 at Tottenham on matchday two having opened Group B with a 4-0 home victory against PSV Eindhoven. The matchday three defeat of Inter made it ten goals this season, the joint highest total alongside Paris Saint-Germain.

• Spanish champions for the 25th time – and third in four years – in 2017/18, Barcelona have been European champions on five occasions, most recently in 2015.

• Barça have won their group in each of the past 11 seasons, and have reached at least the quarter-finals in all of those UEFA Champions League campaigns, both competition records. In 2017/18, they succumbed to a remarkable Roma fightback in the last eight, going out despite a 4-1 home first-leg victory after losing 3-0 in the Rome return.

• That defeat at Roma ended Barcelona's ten-match unbeaten run in the UEFA Champions League (W6 D4).

• Barcelona won only one of their three away games in last season's group stage, drawing the other two, although they kept three clean sheets. They have won six of their last 17 away matches in the competition, drawing five and losing six. They have lost four of their last ten away games in the UEFA Champions League (W3 D3).

• The Blaugrana's record away to Serie A clubs is W6 D10 L7. They are without a win in their last seven trips (D4 L3).

Links and trivia
• Philippe Coutinho scored three goals in 28 Serie A games for Inter between 2010 and 2013.

• Barcelona's Rafinha spent the second half of last season on loan at Inter, scoring twice in 17 appearances.

• Keita Baldé played for Barcelona's youth teams between 2004 and 2011.

• Have also played in Italy:
Arturo Vidal (Juventus 2011–15)
Thomas Vermaelen (Roma 2016/17)

• Have also played in Spain:
Šime Vrsaljko (Atlético Madrid 2016–18)
Miranda (Atlético Madrid 2011–15)
Borja Valero (Real Madrid 2005–07, Mallorca 2007/08 & 2009/10, Villarreal 2010–12)

• Miranda scored two own goals in 12 appearances against Barcelona for Atlético.

• Have played together:
Radja Nainggolan & Thomas Vermaelen (Roma 2016/17)
Kwadwo Asamoah & Arturo Vidal (Juventus 2012–15)

• International team-mates:
Miranda & Rafinha, Arthur, Malcom, Philippe Coutinho (Brazil)
Mauro Icardi, Lautaro Martínez & Lionel Messi (Argentina)
Šime Vrsaljko, Marcelo Brozović, Ivan Perišić & Ivan Rakitić (Croatia)
Matías Vecino & Luis Suárez (Uruguay)
Stefan de Vrij & Jasper Cillessen (Holland)
João Mário & Nélson Semedo (Portugal)
Radja Nainggolan & Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium)

• Perišić's goal for a Croatia team including Brozović, Vrsaljko and Barcelona's Rakitić was not enough to prevent a 4-2 defeat by Samuel Umtiti's France in this summer's FIFA World Cup final.

• Vrsaljko, Brozović and Perišić all featured in Croatia's 6-0 loss to a Spain side including Sergio Busquets in the UEFA Nations League on 11 September.

Latest news

Inter
• Inter had won only once in four matches before matchday one but have won nine of their last ten fixtures in all competitions – the exception the matchday three loss at Barcelona.

• The Nerazzurri were 5-0 winners at home to Genoa on Saturday, their seventh successive win in Serie A.

• The 3-0 victory at Lazio on 29 October was Inter's fourth consecutive away league win, the first time since 2012 they have achieved that.

• Mauro Icardi scored twice against Lazio; he has six goals in his last four Serie A appearances and eight in as many games in all competitions. He was left on the bench on Saturday.

• Nine of Inter's 21 league goals this season have come in the final 15 minutes.

• Luciano Spalletti's side have kept seven clean sheets in their last 19 matches.

• Radja Nainggolan had been out after suffering an ankle injury in the derby against AC Milan on 21 October but came on as a late substitute at the weekend, marking his return with Inter's fifth goal.

• João Mário made his first appearance of the season against Lazio and scored his first Inter goal since January 2017 against Genoa at the weekend.

• On 25 October, Roberto Gagliardini – who scored twice on Saturday, his first Inter goals since March 2017 – and Henrique Dalbert (until 2023), Marcelo Brozović and Matías Vecino (2022), Antonio Candreva (2021) and Miranda (2020) all signed new contracts with Inter.

• The following day Steven Zhang was named Inter president at the age of 26 – the youngest to hold the role in the club's history.

Barcelona
• Sergio Busquets made his 100th appearance in UEFA club competition on matchday three.

• Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla 2-1 in the Spanish Super Cup on 12 August, Gerard Piqué and Ousmane Dembélé with the goals.

• On 28 October Luis Suárez scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 home win against Real Madrid.

• Barcelona had won only once in five matches in all competitions (D3 L1) and were without a win in four Liga matches (D3 L1) – their worst run since March-April 2016 (D1 L3) – before a 4-2 defeat of Sevilla on 20 October. They have won all four games since, including Saturday's 3-2 success at Rayo Vallecano, the second in the 90th minute to win the game after Barça had trailed 2-1.

• Suárez was without a goal in six matches in all competitions before scoring against Sevilla; he now has six in his last four matches, including two at the weekend.

• Dembélé scored three times in his first four Liga appearances this season – matching his goal total for the whole of last season – but had been without a league goal since 15 September before finding the net at Rayo Vallecano.

• Lionel Messi has 12 goals in 11 games in all competitions this season and tops the UEFA Champions League scoring charts with five goals.

• Messi has been out since 20 October with a fractured arm.

• Samuel Umtiti has not played since 26 September due to a knee problem while Thomas Vermaelen (hamstring) is also carrying an injury.