It was the 3rd UCL night for Barcelona, but disappointment loomed over Xavi's side as they lost to Inter Milan, a highly unexpected result. In 3 group stage matches, Barcelona now has only 3 points. Bayern is sitting at the top of the group with 9 points after 3 back-to-back wins, among which one came against Barcelona.
So what happened in the match?
Barcelona was obviously the dominant side of the afternoon, with 71 % possession, 91% pass accuracy. Barcelona dominated the half spaces in the opposition mid and final third with a very good progressive passing numbers, but couldn't score. On the other side, Inter Milan's Hakan Calhanoglu scored the only goal of the match with a right-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box just before half-time.. Pundits often say scoring at this time often psychologically kills the motivation of a team. But last night Barcelona sure didn't lose confidence as they continued their style of play, dominated the passing in their final third of the pitch, threatened Inter with forward and key passes and corners as well.
Pedri was surely the outstanding player on the pitch, as he kept the midfield under his control throughout the match. In the second half, he successfully put the ball in the net, but VAR reviewed that in the build-up Ansu Fati committed a handball.
After the loss questions are already coming up, why Xavi didn't play Raphina in his preferred position on the right wing from where he likes to make those cut-ins as last night Raphina was highly ineffective from that left wing. Barcelona also saw an injury, Andres Christensen had to go off with an ankle issue, and already Ronald Araujo and Jules Kounde are on the sidelines with injuries this might not be very good news before the El Classico as a fit Benzema would be looking to tear down this Barcelona defense.
Champions League worries...
After the 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan, Barcelona is sitting in 3rd place in their group. Bayern has already secured 9 points and if Barcelona would like to avoid another UCL group stage exit, they probably have to win 2/3 games and draw 1/3 game given that Inter loses 2 of their remaining games, one of course to Barcelona and another against Bayern Munich.
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