Inter suffer Barella blow before Borussia Dortmund Champions League decider

Cristian Chivu will have to do without two of his first-choice midfielders when Inter take on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, as Hakan Calhanogluu is injured and Nicolo Barella has reportedly not travelled to Germany with the Nerazzurri squad. 

The Nerazzurri have been on strong form in Serie A, where they lead the table with a five-point margin over their closest rivals. Chivu’s side slipped out of the Champions League top eight last week, though, following a 3-1 defeat at home against Premier League and UCL leaders Arsenal. 

They are on 12 points from seven matches in the Champions League and currently find themselves in 14th place in the table, sandwiched between two Italian competitors: Atalanta one point and one position in front of them, and Juventus one place below on the same points tally. 

The Nerazzurri are left needing favours from other sides if they are to climb back into the top eight in the final round of Champions League fixtures on Wednesday night. 

To make matters more complicated for Chivu and his team, Italy international Barella has been ruled out with muscular fatigue and has not travelled with the team for Dortmund according to La Gazzetta dello Sport and Sky Sport Italia. 

This means that Inter will be without two of their first-choice midfielders given that Calhanoglu has also missed the last three games with a calf issue. Denzel Dumfries also remains out longer term. 

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Chivu is now inclined to deploy a midfield three of Petar Sucic, Piotr Zielinski and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for the Dortmund clash on Wednesday.