HUGE drama! Barcelona on the verge of Champions League exit after six-goal thriller with Inter

Posted Thursday, October 13, 2022 by Goal.com

Barcelona look set to miss out on the Champions League knockout stage for the second consecutive season after failing to beat Inter.

WHAT HAPPENED? After a summer of pulling financial levers to compete with Europe's elite clubs, Barcelona are close to falling at the first hurdle in the Champions League. They shared six goals with Inter at Camp Nou and despite a late comeback, the Blaugrana's exit is likely to be confirmed in a fortnight's time.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The hosts opened the scoring through Ousmane Dembele and went into half-time 1-0 in front. However, one of the great Champions League second halves started with a Nicolo Barella equaliser. Inter would then go in front on two separate occasions through Lautaro Martinez and Robin Gosens, but two Robert Lewandowski goals gave Barca hope of a fairytale finish. But it wasn't to be and the Serie A giants could have actually won it at the death with a gilt-edged chance that they ultimately squandered.

ALL EYES ON: Lewandowski scored twice for the home side but he will have still come away from Camp Nou unhappy. His first goal was one that took a huge, defining deflection while his second was a brilliant, bullet header. Given the fact he had six other shots in the game, the Poland captain will be frustrated that he hasn't come away with the match ball.

WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA? To have any chance of qualifying for the knockouts, Barcelona now rely on Viktoria Plzen getting a result at the San Siro in the next Champions League matchweek. Xavi is also tasked with turning his players' attention to this weekend's Clasico at the Bernabeu on Sunday.