Barça no longer has any margin of error after falling in San Siro with controversy
Signing a great performance in the visit to a European temple continues to be a pending issue for this team
Emerging victorious from a European temple will continue to be a pending issue for this Barça. The defeat at the Giuseppe Meazza is a hard blow, but not definitive and there is a team and character to achieve classification. Of course, things are clear, there is no longer any margin for error.
All the good benefits offered by the Barça team in the League, where last weekend they took the lead 90 days later, fade in Europe. The data is revealing: Barça has received a goal in the domestic championship in seven games, Ter Stegen has managed to keep a clean sheet six times, and on the contrary, in the Champions League, not once with a clean sheet and four goals conceded in three games. Çalhanoglu’s last night was especially painful, as Xavi’s men didn’t deserve to lose. Without playing a great game, they went from less to more and showed character. The goal was missing, as in Munich.
It wasn’t fair, but Barça fell and is forced to beat an Inter team that will still be more defensive and speculative next Wednesday at the Camp Nou. And if possible, win by more than one goal. Because, from now on, every detail, like the goal-average, will be final.
a hand to the neck
It is not about looking for someone else to blame and self-criticism is necessary after complicating life, but the previous years of European shipwrecks have also meant that the refereeing establishment has lost respect for this team. Slavko Vincinc’s different approach with his hands is outrageous. What in one area prevents a goal from being validated, in the other is not a penalty. Xavi and his players know that in this difficult journey they must also recover Barça’s image, in keeping with the greatness of this club.
Nobody said it was going to be easy. Barça is reeling in Europe, but there are reasons for hope. The team knew how to react and rectify a bad first half, return to the original system and corner the rival without obtaining a prize, at least the tie, which would have been the fairest. The red alarm is on and now it’s time to turn it off.