Barcelona is on the verge of elimination from the Champions League following its six-goal thriller against Inter Milan.
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| barcelona vs inter milan, Source: Inter Milan |
After tying Group C rivals Inter Milan 3-3 at home, Barcelona finds themselves on the verge of yet another elimination from the UEFA Champions League group stage.
Despite two late goals from Robert Lewandowski, the hosts gave up in the second half because they were unable to secure a victory in Catalonia.
Xavi's team appeared to be headed for victory following Ousmane Dembele's first-half strike, but Inter pulled together brilliantly after the break, scoring goals from Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez, a previous transfer target of Barcelona.
Barcelona avoided a loss on the night thanks to Lewandowski's two equalizers, each side of a composed goal from Robin Gosens, but they will be eliminated if Inter wins one of their last two group matches.
Goals barcelona vs inter milan :
Dembele, 41st minute, goal (BAR)
Barella - INT - 50th min.
Martinez-63rd minute - INT
Lewandowski - BAR in the 81st minute
89th minute - Gosens - INT
Lewandowski, BAR, 90+3 minutes
Veterans from Barcelona brutally exposed
There are probably going to be some hard realities for Barcelona's seasoned stars in the investigation into the team's downfall at Camp Nou.
On this particular occasion, Xavi decided to keep Gerard Pique in the center of defense while starting midfielder Sergio Busquets served as an anchor.
Busquets was too slow in possession leading up to Lautaro Martinez's goal, which allowed Pique to be exposed by Nicolo Barella for Inter's first equalizer.
After that, Busquets was hooked, while Pique barely made it through the whole 90 minutes. Both players seem to be nearing the end of their careers with Barcelona.
Both have plenty of big-game knowledge and expertise, but because Inter repeatedly forced them into transition, there is a growing perception that the end of 2022–2023 will mark their final performance at the Camp Nou.
Lewandowski conceals La Blaugrana's Champions League flaws.
Lewandowski's late brace would have been enough to win Barcelona the match on most Champions League evenings, but his heroics were overshadowed at the end.
Despite passing up scoring opportunities before halftime, he displayed a razor-sharp sense to keep the hosts in the game when their back line broke down.
Barcelona has eight goals in the Champions League so far this year, and without the former Bayern Munich star, they would already be out of the competition in Group C.
Martinez demonstrates to Barcelona what they were missing.
Lewandowski's performance demonstrated why Barcelona made such a strong effort to sign him this summer, but Martinez, an Argentinean, demonstrated why Barcelona wanted him back in 2021.
Inter refused to give up on Martinez despite the Catalans' interest and rejected a potential transfer out of the San Siro.
Even though he didn't outperform Lewandowski, his link-up play kept Barcelona on their toes all night long as he easily slid past Marc ter Stegen and set up a late assist for Gosens.
Lewandowski's overuse by Barcelona is obvious, and Martinez's strong performance made it very clear that the team has a quality backup.
