As Barcelona bask in the glow of their 3-2, extra-time fueled 2025 Copa del Rey conquest over rivals Real Madrid – making it three out of three Clasicos so far for Hansi Flick in his first season in charge – they cannot let their celebrations last too long.
That’s because Barcelona will battle a very game Inter Milan on Wednesday night in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Inter are fresh off eliminating perennial tournament contenders Bayern Munich, and while they have suffered a few tricky results lately in Serie A, they are also favorites to retain their title.
The task may be a little bit easier for Barcelona, though, as Calciomercato.com’s Pasquale Guarro reports a pessimistic injury recovery update for Inter Milan star striker Marcus Thuram.
Marcus Thuram has not recovered as quickly as hoped
Per Guarro, while there was initially some hope that Thuram would be able to recover in time to face Barcelona in the first leg in Catalunya on Wednesday night, his recovery has been slower than expected and this option has now been discarded.
Inter now hope that Thuram will be able to play in the second leg at the Giuseppe Meazza on Tuesday, May 6, as the French international’s status is now also in doubt for the May 3 Serie A fixture against Hellas Verona.
Thuram has missed the last few games with muscular fatigue, and while Inter have some good depth at striker behind him in veterans Mehdi Taremi and Marko Arnautovic, neither of those players has the all-around skill-set that Thuram does.
He’s been the perfect striker partner for star man Lautaro Martinez and has arguably outperformed the Argentinian due to his consistency and all-around play. Thuram actually has more goals and assists than Martinez this season with 14 and 4.
Thuram is Inter Milan’s leading scorer
No Inter player has more goals than Thuram while only Federico Dimarco has more assists. The former Borussia Monchengladbach man is also averaging 1.3 key passes and 1.1 fouls drawn per game in Serie A.
Not having to face Thuram in at least the first leg is excellence news for Barcelona, who have a solid center back duo in Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez but can be vulnerable defensively on the counter with how often they attack under Flick.
While they will still have to gameplan for Arnautovic and Taremi, the Inter attack isn’t the same without Thuram setting up Martinez and working like a madman in the channels, causing all sorts of problems in conjunction with wing backs Denzel Dumfries and Dimarco.
Joe Soriano covers Tottenham for FanSided’s Hotspur HQ and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.