Milan: Inter Milan meets defending champion Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday hoping to emulate the Spanish side's treble-winning success of 2009.
Last year Barcelona won the Champions League, Spanish League and Spanish Cup and now, having reached the final of the Italian Cup, Inter is hopeful of lifting three trophies itself.
Inter, Serie A champion for the last four seasons, lies one point behind AS Roma at the top of the table but has seen its domestic form falter recently as it progressed through the Champions League.
Critics have claimed that Jose Mourinho's team is lacking stamina as the season reaches its climax. Inter captain Javier Zanetti, a 36-year-old veteran who has played 47 games this season, denies such suggestions.
"At the moment I don't feel tired. I still feel good and I want to play my part for the team," Zanetti said. "We are fine. We are playing a lot of games at the moment and each one of them needs our full potential and we can't relax on any front. When we do start to feel tired we need to be smart about it and then we can get over it."
Inter and Barcelona have already met twice this season in the group stage. The teams drew 0-0 at San Siro and Barcelona won 2-0 at Camp Nou.
"I know it will be a totally different match compared to the one we played in Barcelona," Mourinho said. "We played well at home where Barcelona was only better in the first and last 10 minutes. For 70 minutes, the match was even. At home we controlled the match well. In Barcelona, for 15 to 25 minutes, we weren't in the match and we lost the match early on. But tomorrow's game will be totally different."
Inter managed in both games to limit the influence of Lionel Messi, but the Argentine forward later showed his devastating ability by hitting four goals in the second leg of the quarterfinal against Arsenal.
"I do know that he is an important player and needs particular attention," Mourinho said. "But as far as I'm concerned football isn't about one man, and for that reason I won't be one player against Messi and 10 others against 10, but 11 against 11. Even if Messi needs special attention because he is special."
Pedro and Gerard Pique scored the goals in Barcelona's win at Camp Nou, but Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola says results in the group stage are irrelevant.
"We are playing a great team and Inter is having an awesome Champions League and has won its last four games," Guardiola said.
"We played well against Arsenal and I would like us to maintain this level, but I don't think we will because Inter is a great team and won't let us relax."
Meanwhile, Barcelona was forced to use buses for the 725-kilometer (450-mile) trip to Milan after flights were grounded due to the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland that has spread across Europe in recent days.
"I wouldn't say it was an ideal situation to have before a match of this nature: a Champions League semifinal against Inter," Guardiola said.
"It is something that has affected many people in Europe. We couldn't stay at home, so we had to take the coach. We made it as comfortable as possible by taking two coaches for the whole contingent and allowed our players as much rest as possible."
The return leg is on Wednesday, April 28.
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