Can Inter complete the job at the Nou Camp?

Tonight, Inter start favourites to reach their first European Cup final in 38 years as they take a 3-1 lead to Barcelona's Nou Camp in the Champions League semi-final return leg.

On the continent, Inter have upped their game impressively ever since beating Rubin Kazan 2-0 to qualify as runners-up to holders Barcelona from Group F.

That home win was the first of a series of six in a row for Inter in Europe's premier club competition.

It seems Jose Mourinho has finally found the right formula how to lead Inter to their first triumph in the competition since beating Benfica 1-0 in the 1964/65 final.

As Mourinho rightly pointed out, nothing has been won as yet.

Inter need to produce another formidable display to reach the final. It will not be a simple task though because Barcelona are reputedly the best team in circulation and will surely do their utmost to overturn the result.

But Inter have the momentum and look in the right frame of mind to reach the May 22 final.

Proof of the giant strides Inter made in key Champions League encounters was epitomised by their strong reaction after conceding Pedro's early goal at the San Siro last week.

The hosts were on top of their game from the word go and Barcelona's lead ironically increased Inter's conviction that they could make it in their first semi-final showdown in seven years. Before, Inter always failed to react in a positive way after falling behind in such delicate matches.

Going into the first leg, Inter had a clear edge over Barca in that they played against Juventus a day before the Catalans took on city rivals Espanyol in the Primera Liga. Also, Barca's long journey by coach to reach Milan must have left a gruelling effect on Pep Guardiola's players. These considerations aside, there is absolutely no question that Inter were by far the best team on the night.

Both Inter and Barcelona are still directly involved in their respective domestic title races.

With three games to go, Inter are back in pole position to win a fifth straight scudetto - the second in a row under Mourinho.

On Saturday, Inter scored three times after Simone Tiribocchi had given relegation-threatened Atalanta a stunning fifth-minute lead in Milan.

Inter's victory was followed by Roma's shock 1-2 home upset at the hands of fourth-placed Sampdoria.

With nine points still up for grabs, Mourinho's side are two points clear now and their upcoming opponents in the title run-in will be Lazio and Siena (away) and Chievo (home).

Next week, Inter lock horns again with Roma in the Coppa Italia final in Rome. The way Inter have been playing lately epitomises a side that has all cards in place to go all out for an historic treble.

The morale within the Inter clan is sky-high and their key players, barring rebel Mario Balotelli, have reached their peak form in time.

On their count, Barcelona are currently one point clear of Real Madrid with four games left. For Barca, winning the Champions League for a second successive year at Real's own backyard, the Bernabeu, represents the club's chief objective this season.

They have enough quality to reverse the first leg defeat and oust Inter. But to do so, the three-times European champions need to produce the same kind of performance they had when the two sides met in November.

But, there is a certain conviction at Inter these days that before was non-existent.

Mourinho knows exactly what to ask from his players and they, in turn, respond superbly on the field of play.

Serie A statistics

1 out of four penalties taken last weekend went off-target. Those successful from the spot were Alessandro Del Piero (Juve), Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno) and Antonio Di Natale (Udinese). However, Fiorentina's Juan Vargas saw his feeble effort from the spot blocked by Chievo's Stefano Sorrentino. Lazio coach Edy Reja was ordered off his bench. Three players - Christian Zaccardo (Parma), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari) and Ciro Capuano (Catania) - received marching orders.

3 rd successive home win for Juventus who scored three second-half goals to overcome Bari. The southerners have now gone five consecutive games without a win (one draw and four straight defeats). Beleaguered Fiorentina suffered their seventh home setback of the term as they went down to Chievo. For the Verona-based outfit, this was their second successive win and overall their sixth away success of the term.

4 th straight home win for Inter who came from a goal down to beat third-bottom Atalanta 3-1. Jose Mourinho's side chalked up 10 points out of the last-available 12. All Atalanta collected in their last 11 games on the road are two draws (vs Bologna 2-2 and Catania 0-0). The Bergamo team have now suffered five straight away defeats, with their previous executioners being Milan, Parma, Juventus and Roma.

8 th goalless draw for Napoli as Walter Mazzarri's side could not go beyond a home 0-0 stalemate with Cagliari. The Sardinians are without a win in their last 11 outings. Lazio inched closer to safety thanks to a comeback success against Genoa. Lazio's fifth away win of the term coincided with Genoa's third home upset.

10 points won by Udinese in their last four outings. On Sunday, the northeasterners ran riot of struggling Siena to make sure of survival. Away from home, Siena, who possess the worst defensive record in the Serie A, have only managed three wins and two draws in 18 games. Sampdoria made it four wins in a row as they became the third side, after Juventus and Livorno, to conquer Roma's Olympic Stadium this season. The 2-1 win helped Sampdoria to conserve their fourth spot. Roma's first defeat since going down to Udinese on the 10th day enabled Inter to return to the summit of the Serie A.

13 th home win for buoyant Palermo, who handed faltering Milan their second straight defeat following the 1-2 reverse to Sampdoria. Since Delio Rossi took over at Palermo, the only side to emerge from the Renzo Barbera stadium undefeated were Inter (1-1) on the 29th day.