Terrible draw, injury problems with very poor timing in defence, missed penalty in Milan…
Well, of course, there are valid excuses for Barcelona who are seriously risking losing promotion from the Champions League group stage – again.
Regardless, it could have been quite a huge fluctuation.
He had clearly heard what that 1-0 goal meant before the break.
When Ousmane Dembele ran correctly and headed clearly into Sergi Roberto’s balanced cross, the Camp Nou went from anxiety to ecstasy.
Dembele was so happy that he looked angry as he ran from lap to hug with his outstretched arm. Finally, he ended up with coach Xavi, who had time to cool off from his initial and brutal reaction on goal.
Then after that, Dembele, Xavi, Barcelona and the UEFA bus beeping Catalonia were in relief.
Every now and then they seemed to be on the verge of avoiding miscalculation and all the changes of scenery that were waiting for them around the corner.
A miscalculation which, with summer activities in mind, was not allowed to happen but is now on the cusp of it.
Inter deserves all the applause
When Barcelona signed one world star after another over the summer via short-term financial solutions, it made the entire footballing world wrinkle noses and raise eyebrows.
“How dare they be shortsighted?”
A legitimate question, even if the tactics of the Barcelona administration are clear and public. Get out of trouble. Achieving immediate success in the field to provide the conditions for success from it. An equation that, to unite, requires titles and a born-again Barcelona can win everything that can be won.
Barcelona does not get out of the group stage in the Champions League, that is.
Inter, who have acted more slowly in their league play than La Liga leaders Barcelona, deserve all the applause for how they dealt with Xavi’s gang over the course of two games, scoring four points out of a possible six.
But it’s also impossible to get away from the fact that a lack of fluency has grinned Barcelona in the face – actually all the way since they were pulled into the ‘group of death’.
The scapegoat who wasn’t supposed to play
The effort against Bayern Munich was promising in many ways, but it wasn’t enough to get a point.
Away from Inter, they may have lost “fairly” – but also unfairly given the (but obvious) penalty they didn’t get.
This Wednesday, at home against Inter? There, the scapegoats were a center back duo who, ordinarily, would not have started an important match in the 2022 UEFA Champions League.
Gerard Pique, the match coach and fifth choice central defender, was not in the same time zone as top scorer Nicolo Parilla 1-1.
Eric Garcia, a somewhat wobbly fourth option in the same position, was used as a constant zoom mark by 1-2 shooter Lautaro Martinez (who also pulled his shot after the intervention, speaking of margins).
Jules Conde, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen? Wounded – the three.
However, it was not Robert Lewandowski.
Lewandowski did his part
Half a billion spent on the 34-year-old Pole was the only short-term investment since the summer. Recruiting stars that better symbolize the search for immediate success.
It was Lewandowski who scored 2-2 with less than ten minutes left. It was Lewandowski who countered Ruben Josen at Interovoria to make it 2-3 just before extra time, heading 3-3 just a few minutes later.
Lewandowski scored exactly the goals Lewandowski penned to score, and that was enough to keep sporting hope alive.
With an emphasis on mathematics.
Certainly some hope lives on with three points until Inter and two rounds left. Sure enough, she could have slipped away at home against Victoria Plzen’s punching bag in the next round.
But all indications are that they do not. All logic suggests that another Blue-Red CL fail identification awaits around the corner after that 3-3 race at home (which, by the way, was an objectively entertaining and race-producing event).
Yes, despite all the margins, it would be so.
A complete fiasco.