Barcelona head into a huge Champions League clash against Inter Milan without the one and only Lionel Messi, who is recuperating from a fractured arm. But it’s a scenario they’ve coped with before.
In fact, during a group stage game in 2009/10, Barca left both Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the bench as Pedro and Gerard Pique did the business in a 2-0 win over the Nerazzurri in the group stage.
Check out more quick-fire stats below to whet your appetite ahead of Wednesday’s big game at the Nou Camp …
4⃣9⃣ wins
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 22, 2018
6⃣ draws
6⃣ defeats
That's our record without this man since 2010. We should be OK! 🤞 pic.twitter.com/siqNYa9zSO
Barcelona’s total win percentage in the Champions League with Messi in their ranks stands at 60 per cent, with 78 victories in 131 matches, as well as 33 draws and 20 losses. However, in the 22 UCL games that Messi has been absent, that figure leaps up to 77 per cent with 17 wins in 22 games and only three defeats.
Inter captain Mauro Icardi touched the ball just 14 times in the Milan derby last weekend before popping up for the 92nd-minute winner to down the Rossoneri.
Barcelona are unbeaten in 27 Champions League home matches, a run that started in September 2013 (W25 D2).
Barca have been the victors of their group in the last 11 seasons – a competition record – and have reached at least the quarter-finals in all of those campaigns.
The Nerazzurri’s last competitive game against a Spanish side saw them fall to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Atletico Madrid in the 2010 Super Cup in Monaco.
Barca and Inter have met on just six previous occasions, each coming in the last 15 years. The Catalans took four points off their opponents in the 2002/03 group stage as well as 2009/10, before losing to the Nerazzurri in the semi-finals later that season.
Barca have won all three previous home matches against Inter, scoring six goals without conceding.
