Barcelona are a football club that oozes class, heading for a 28th LaLiga title they have just beaten rivals Real Madrid to win the Copa del Rey for a 32nd time and they are bidding to lift a sixth European Cup.
The bookies have them chalked up as overwhelming Champions League favourites at a best price of 2/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hill and many more outlets and it is going to take something special to stop them lifting the trophy in Munich.
Unfortunately for the Catalan club there is another class act standing in their way in the semi-finals in the form of Inter Milan, who also boast a rich history having won 20 Serie A titles and are in the running for a further success, with three European Cups to their credit and a close call against Manchester City in the final a couple of years ago.
It’s a clash of cultures with Barca scoring goals for fun, averaging three a game in the jewel of European football’s crown and Inter shutting up shop with a rock-solid defence which loves a clean sheet.
Inter have kept eight clean sheets in this season’s tournament, conceding just five goals, so Barca are going to have their work cut out to breach the most disciplined of rearguards.
Inter have an older squad than their hosts but that experience is the key to their remarkable achievements and last term’s Italian champions are in the mood for further glory.
Against the odds, they won 2-1 in the first leg of their quarter-final tussle against Bayern Munich in Germany before drawing 2-2 at the San Siro and they can silence the Olympic Stadium even though they have lost their three domestic games since then without scoring a goal.
Inter can raise their game and pull off another superb result before completing the job on home soil to face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain in the glittering climax to the 2024/25 season.
The draw is 10/3 with bet365, Bet Victor and BetGoodwin, 1-1 is 15/2 with Betfred and StarSports and under 2.5 goals is 7/5 with Paddy Power.
Meanwhile, Raphinha is 9/5 with Paddy Power and Betfair to score for Barca and Lautaro Martinez is 14/5 with Unibet and BetMGM to do so for Inter.
• Mirra Andreeva is a rising star in tennis and she can write another impressive entry in her CV by beating Coco Gauff at the Madrid Open at 4/5 with SpreadEx and Sporting Index.
• Scottie Scheffler still hasn’t won a title in eight attempts since the turn of the year but should finally prevail at 14/5 with Betfred at this week’s CJ Byron Nelson having finished tied-second, fourth and tied-eighth against stronger fields in his last three appearances.
Taylor Pendrith is 22/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral and our other each-ways are Stephan Jaeger at 30/1 and Jake Knapp 35/1 both with the same firms.