The free-flowing attack of Barcelona comes up against the rugged, smothering defense of Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinals.
Ring any bells?
Go back to 2010 — when Lamine Yamal was not even 3 years old and Lionel Messi was close to his prime — and Camp Nou was the scene of one of the most memorable matches in Champions League history, between the same teams going head-to-head there again on Wednesday.
Protecting a 3-1 lead from the first leg, Inter — coached at the time by Jose Mourinho — delivered a defensive masterclass against Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona to survive with 10 men for more than an hour and lose just 1-0 to progress to the title match.
Memories will come flooding back ahead of the rematch this week, especially with the two protagonists owning the same traits as 15 years ago.
Barcelona is back in the Champions League semifinals for the first time since the 2018-19 season, on the back of by far the best attack in the new-look, 36-team league stage. With Yamal, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski up front, Barca scored 28 goals in eight games — and has netted nine more goals in eliminating Benfica and Borussia Dortmund in the knockouts.
Then there’s Inter, the Italian champion, which conceded just once in eight games in the first stage and held on grimly to oust Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals.
Inter won the 2010 final, against Bayern, for a third European Cup title so its run toward the final this season has echoes of that title-winning campaign.
Arsenal vs. Paris Saint-Germain
While the Barcelona-Inter Milan semifinal is awash with history, this one seems relatively fresh.
Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain have met just three times in the Champions League and never in the knockout stage. One of those occasions was this season, when Arsenal won 2-0 at Emirates Stadium.
And it’s at home that the Gunners play on Tuesday in the first leg, hoping to reproduce the exploits that saw them beat defending champion Real Madrid in both legs in the quarterfinals.
Their opponents, however, are aiming to eliminate an English opponent for the third straight round, after seeing off Liverpool and — less impressively — Aston Villa.
With its “galacticos” — Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Messi — long gone, PSG is bidding to win a first Champions League title by going with talented up-and-coming players instead.
Arsenal is also striving to become European champion for the first time, having not reached the semis since 2009.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
