Inter will go all-out to avenge defeat by Barcelona
Inter go into the game keen to reassert themselves in the section after last week's 3-0 defeat by the Catalan side left them looking over their shoulders at third-placed Newcastle United. "We played badly in Barcelona and that is a source of motivation," Cúper said. "This will be a different game." At Camp Nou, Barcelona extended their winning run in this season's competition to eleven games. Until recent weeks, this record had belied an indifferent domestic campaign yet Radomir Antic's arrival as coach has reinvigorated Barcelona. "They are in form. Once you hit the bottom, the only way is up," said Cúper. Indeed, Barça's "new momentum" has yielded successive victories against RCD Espanyol, Inter, and Real Betis Balompié.
Inter need the win more than the visitors do they trail the Blaugrana by three points, with Newcastle another three behind. Cúper's focus is on the job in hand, and he refused to let his press conference be hijacked by questions about the abuse given to Inter players Stéphane Dalmat and Domenico Morfeo by their own supporters during Sunday's 3-1 league success against Piacenza FC. "We are thinking about Wednesday, and I don't want to hear the players talking about anything other than Barça," he said. Cuper, though, will be without two key players through suspension Colombian defender Ivan Cordoba has a one-match ban while Uruguayan forward Alvaro Recoba begins his three-match suspension. Central defender Marco Materazzi has a muscle strain and is unlikely to be fit so Cuper will ask Paraguayan Carlos Alberto Gamarra to partner Fabio Cannavaro in the heart of the defence.
Cuper has no choice about his front two with Recoba suspended, Gabriel Batistuta not eligible and Hernan Crespo and Nicola Ventola both injured, Sierra Leone striker Mohammed Kallon will partner Christian Vieri with no recognised forward on the bench. Barca will be without injured Dutch winger Marc Overmars as Fabio Rochemback is likely to come in for the Spainards on the right side of midfield, with Gabri replacing Juan Pablo Sorin, the Argentine full-back who is ineligible. In Group B Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar and Spanish international winger Vicente have both recovered from minor injuries and should be back to boost Valencia's bid for a second win over AS Roma tonight. Valencia needed a freak goal from John Carew to claim a 1-0 win in Rome last week but they played themselves into far better attacking form at the weekend with a sweeping 4-0 victory at Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league.
Miguel Angel Angulo, who opened the scoring in that game, is still suspended in Europe, meaning a likely place for Francisco Rufete on the right of midfield. Francesco Totti returns for AS Roma after three weeks on the sidelines with a muscle problem and the Roma captain will be aiming to give a boost to his team who suffered another poor result in Serie A with a 2-1 defeat to Udinese on Sunday.
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