- Barcelona. What do Barcelona need to progress to the knockout stage of the Champions League?
- Barcelona. Xavi: The Champions League is being cruel to Barcelona
It is true that Barcelona has been hit by injuries in recent weeks. Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Hector Bellerin have all been sidelined.
It happened at a key point of the season because Barcelona was scheduled to face Inter in a crucial game on Wednesday before taking on Real Madrid away on Sunday
However, their defensive performance against the Serie A side was dreadful, with Barcelona conceding three goals on home soil.
Poor stats in Europe
While in LaLiga Santander they have conceded just one goal in eight games, Barcelona has allowed in as many as seven goals in the Champions League last season. Had it not been for an extraordinary Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, the Blaugrana would have conceded even more times against Inter.
Too many mistakes
The defensive errors were unforgivable. The first one, made by Gerard Pique, was the beginning of the debacle, as the Catalan defender paid for his poor positioning in Nicolo Barella's goal.
From that moment on, the game changed, with both Sergio Busquets and Eric Garcia being at fault in Inter's second, one which was scored by Lautaro Martinez.
European cruelty
Coach Xavi Hernandez said that the Champions League is being cruel to Barcelona. In Munich they were poor in attack, wasting very clear chances. In Milan the main issue was the referee, as his mistakes were decisive for Barcelona. And on Wednesday, it was the defense that made numerous errors.