Barcelona v Internazionale facts

For the second year running, Barcelona and Internazionale meet in the group stage with all four teams in Group F level on one point after the first round of matches.

• Barcelona needed a Marc-André ter Stegen penalty save from Germany team-mate Marco Reus to earn a goalless draw at Borussia Dortmund on matchday one. Inter had an escape of their own earlier the same evening, needing an added-time equaliser from substitute Nicolò Barrella to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Slavia Praha.

• The Spanish side have dominated their meetings with Inter over the years, particularly in Spain – although the Italian club's sole victory proved highly significant.

Previous meetings
• The sides' most recent meeting came on matchday four last season, an 87th-minute Mauro Icardi goal earning Inter a 1-1 draw at San Siro four minutes after Malcom had put Barça in front.

• A goal in each half from Rafinha (32) and Jordi Alba (83) had given Barcelona a 2-0 victory at the Camp Nou two weeks earlier, continuing their impeccable home record against Inter: four wins from four matches, with eight goals scored and none conceded.

• Perhaps surprisingly for two clubs with such rich European history, the teams have played only six other matches – those too 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, the first of them, in Milan, again finishing 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 the club's third European title.

Form guide
Barcelona
• The goalless draw at Dortmund made it two successive European games without scoring for Barcelona, for the first time since October-November 2017. They have failed to find the net in three successive UEFA competition matches only once, in the 1987/88 UEFA Cup.

• Barcelona are unbeaten in 32 UEFA Champions League home matches, a run that started in September 2013 (W29 D3); the 5-1 defeat of Lyon in last season's round of 16 second leg eclipsed the previous competition record of 29 set by Bayern München between March 1998 and April 2002.

• Barcelona have won ten of their last 11 home European games, the exception a 1-1 draw against Tottenham on matchday six. They have scored 33 goals in that 11-match sequence, including 11 in the last three.

• The matchday six draw against Tottenham in 2018/19 was the first time Barcelona had dropped points in the group stage at the Camp Nou since 2012/13, ending a run of 17 group stage victories.. They have not lost at home in the group stage since going down 2-1 to Rubin in 2009 – a run of 28 matches (W25 D3).

• The Blaugrana's record at home to Serie A clubs is W17 D6 L2. They are unbeaten in their last 14 home fixtures against Italian visitors, winning 11, since losing 2-1 to Juventus in the 2002/03 quarter-final second leg.

• Spanish champions for the 26th time in 2018/19, their fourth title in five years, this is Barcelona's 24th UEFA Champions League group campaign, a competition record they share with Real Madrid. They last failed to qualify from their group in 2000/01 and have reached the round of 16 or better for the last 15 seasons.

• In 2018/19, Barcelona finished first ahead of Tottenham, Inter and PSV Eindhoven in Group B, picking up 14 points – seven of them at home. They eased past Lyon in the last 16 (0-0 a, 5-1 h) and Manchester United in the quarter-finals (1-0 a, 3-0 h) before a 3-0 first-leg victory against Liverpool in the last four, only for the English club to turn the tables in stunning style at Anfield (0-4).

• Defeat on Merseyside ended Barcelona's 11-match unbeaten run in the UEFA Champions League (W8 D3). They have lost only two of their last 24 UEFA Champions League fixtures (W14 D8).

• Barcelona have been European champions on five occasions, most recently in 2015.

Inter
• The draw against Slavia made it three European fixtures without a win for Inter (D2 L1), with only one goal scored in that sequence. They are without a victory in their last five UEFA Champions League matches (D3 L2), scoring just three goals.

• Fourth in Serie A in 2018/19, 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 13th time Inter have been in the group stage – last season was their first appearance since 2011/12.

• In 2018/19 Inter won their first two fixtures, against Tottenham and PSV Eindhoven, but picked up only two more points to lose out to Spurs on head-to-head record and finished third in Group B, which was won by Barcelona. Moving into the UEFA Europa League, they knocked out Rapid Wien in the round of 32 (1-0 a, 4-0 h) but lost 1-0 in the home second leg, and on aggregate, against Eintracht Frankfurt in the last 16.

• Last season was the first time in nine UEFA Champions League campaigns Inter had failed to progress from their group.

• The Nerazzurri have won only two of their last 12 European away fixtures and lost six of their last nine, the exceptions last season's 2-1 win at PSV in the UEFA Champions League group stage and the UEFA Europa League round of 32 victory in Vienna.

• Inter have lost four of their last five matches away to Spanish opponents (D1); their overall record in those away games is W3 D2 L14. Inter's last victory away to Liga opposition was a 5-1 success at Valencia in October 2004 – their record away European win – although they did beat Bayern München 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final.

Links and trivia
• Alexis Sánchez scored 39 goals in 88 Liga games for Barcelona between 2011 and 2014, winning the Copa del Rey in 2011/12 and the Liga title the following season. He came on as a second-half substitute in Barcelona's victory in the 2011 UEFA Super Cup.

• Have also played in Spain:
Diego Godín (Villarreal 2007–10, Atlético Madrid 2010–19)
Borja Valero (Real Madrid 2005–07, Mallorca 2007/08 & 2009/10, Villarreal 2010–12)

• Have also played in Italy:
Arturo Vidal (Juventus 2011–15)
Neto (Fiorentina 2011–15, Juventus 2015–17)

• Antoine Griezmann scored in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final as France defeated Marcelo Brozović's Croatia 4-2. Samuel Umtiti was also in the France side with Ivan Rakitić featuring for Croatia.

• Antonio Conte's Italy defeated a Spain side including Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets 2-0 in the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16.

• Have played together:
Antoine Griezmann and Diego Godín (Atlético 2014–19)
Neto and Borja Valero (Fiorentina 2012–15)
Arturo Vidal & Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus 2012–15)
Neto and Kwadwo Asamoah (Juventus 2015–17)

• International team-mates:
Lionel Messi & Lautaro Martínez (Argentina)
Ivan Rakitić & Marcelo Brozović (Croatia)
Luis Suárez & Diego Godín, Matías Vecino (Uruguay)
Frenkie de Jong & Stefan de Vrij (Netherlands)

• Brozović featured in Croatia's 6-0 loss to a Spain side including Sergio Busquets in the UEFA Nations League on 11 September 2018.

Latest news

Barcelona
• Summer transfers
In: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax), Emerson (Atlético Mineiro), Neto (Valencia), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid), Marc Cucullera (Eibar), Junior Firpo (Real Betis)
Out: Mateu Morey (Dortmund), Marc Cardona (Osasuna), André Gomes (Everton), Jasper Cillessen (Valencia), Denis Suárez (Celta Vigo), Marc Cucurella (Getafe, loan), Malcom (Zenit), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern, loan), Rafinha (Celta Vigo, loan)

• On 23 September, Lionel Messi was named best men's player at the Best Fifa Football Awards in Milan.

• Messi made his first start of the season in the 2-1 victory against Villarreal on 24 September having recovered from a calf injury, but was replaced at half-time due to an adductor problem and missed Saturday's 2-0 win at Getafe.

• Ten different Barcelona players have scored in this season's Liga – more than any other team in one of Europe's top five leagues – with Messi still to open his account.

• The weekend win – in which Junior Firpo scored his first goal for Barcelona – ended the Blaugrana's seven-match run without an away victory (D3 L4).

• Marc-André ter Stegen set up Luis Suárez's opener at Getafe on Saturday – the first Barcelona goalkeeper to provide an assist in the 21st century.

• Barcelona were beaten 1-0 at Athletic Club on 16 August, the first time they had lost their opening Liga fixture in 11 years. Seven points from their first five games represented their worst start to a Liga season since 1994/95.

• Barcelona have won their last 13 home matches in all competitions, and are unbeaten in 23 matches at the Camp Nou (W20 D3), since a 4-3 loss to Real Betis on 11 November 2018.

• Jordi Alba has been out since matchday one after being replaced before half-time with a hamstring strain.

• A foot injury has kept Samuel Umtiti on the sidelines all season.

• Ousmane Dembélé returned as a half-time substitute against Villarreal, his first appearance since 16 August due to a hamstring injury.

• Ansu Fati became the second youngest player to appear for Barça in the Liga when he made his debut aged 16 years 298 days in the victory against Real Betis on 25 August. Six days later, the teenager then became the club's youngest Liga goalscorer, aged 16 years 304 days, in a 2-2 draw with Osasuna that made him the the third youngest Liga goalscorer of all time.

• Messi was named Forward of the Season for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League in Monaco on 29 August; Frenkie de Jong collected the Midfielder's award for his performances with Ajax last season.

Inter
• Summer transfers
In: Matteo Politano (Sassuolo), Eddie Salcedo (Genoa), Gabriel Brazão (Parma), Diego Godín (Atlético), Valentino Lazaro (Hertha), Stefano Sensi (Sassuolo), Ionuț Radu (Genoa), Nicolò Barella (Cagliari), Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina, loan), Alexis Sánchez (Manchester United, loan)
Out: Cristian Ansaldi (Torino), Zinho Vanheusden (Standard Liège), Andrea Pinamonti (Genoa), Ionuț Radu (Genoa, loan), João Miranda (Jiangsu Suning), Radja Nainggolan (Cagliari, loan), George Pușcaș (Reading), Samuele Longo (Deportivo La Coruña, loan), Ivan Perišić (Bayern, loan), João Mário (Lokomotiv Moskva, loan), Dalbert (Fiorentina, loan), Mauro Icardi (Paris Saint-Germain, loan)

• Inter are the only side with maximum points after six matches of the new Serie A season; they won 3-1 at Sampdoria on Saturday.

• Alexis Sánchez scored his first goal for Inter at Sampdoria, but was sent off for a second booking a minute into the second half.

• Roberto Gagliardini got his first goal of the season at Sampdoria, when Stefano Sensi scored his third for Inter in his sixth Serie A appearance.

• Inter have won their first six games in a Serie A season only once before, in 1966/67.

• The Nerazzurri were 2-0 derby winners against AC Milan on 21 September thanks to second-half goals from Marcelo Brozović and Romelu Lukaku.

• Four days later Danilo D'Ambrosio's first goal of the season earned a 1-0 win against Lazio.

• Summer signing Cristiano Biraghi made his Inter debut against Lazio, marking it with the assist for D'Ambrosio's winner.

• Samir Handanovič made his 300th Inter appearance against Lazio.

• Inter have conceded only two Serie A goals so far this season, keeping four clean sheets – the best defensive record in the Italian top flight.

• Antonio Conte replaced Luciano Spalletti as Inter coach in the summer, signing a three-year contract with the Nerazzurri. He has now won 20 of his last 21 Serie A games, with Juventus in 2013/14 and Inter this season.