Barcelona still need a miracle after a ‘heart-stopping’ 3-3 draw with Inter Milan left their Champions League hopes on a cliff edge.
Robert Lewandowski stopped their European campaign ending early by scoring in the second minute of stoppage time, right after Inter’s bench had spilled onto the Camp Nou pitch to celebrate what looked like a winner.
If the Nerazzurri had won, it would have sent Barca, the European giants, into financial ruin. But that is still possible with Inter needing to win three points in their final two games against Bayern Munich (and a pointless Viktoria Plzen).
Barcelona will require Both Plzen and Bayern winIn that scenario, Inter would have to lose both games.
Their slim chances would have evaporated entirely if it wasn’t for Lewandowski though, with the Pole twice coming to the rescue with his team getting trampled on.
Ousmanne Demebele had led the Catalans to a 1-0 halftime lead. But a chaotic 45 was dominated primarily by the Italians who twice led. Only for Lewandowski, however, to come up in what? Mundo Deportivo called a ‘heart-stopping and uncontrolled ending’.
Robin Gosens made it 2-2 in the first half when he mis-footed Andre Onana in Inter net. But, after a defensive collapse from the home side Robin Gosens took the final goal.
The bench spilled onto the pitch to celebrate the German’s 89th minute goal, but it was too much too soon, as Lewandowski later powered in a header to keep his team alive.
Just how alive they will be remains to be seen, with much of the club’s summer refinancing and debt reconstruction based on success in the competition, Mundo Deportivo say they now ‘need a miracle’.
As Spanish football expert Graham Hunter explained to talkSPORT earlier this year: “In terms of LaLiga, it doesn’t [pay].
“LaLiga’s development is slower than the Premier League, [but]The Champions League does.
“A while ago for winning the Champions League you might be taking in €85-€90million, currently if you have a good stab in the Champions League and finish top six or top four, you’re talking about €120/€130m.
“If they’re competitive for one or two seasons in the Champions League it vastly eats into the short term and long term debt, the fact about the gamble is, if you don’t pull it off, then you’ve wrongly mortgaged your future.”
Next up for Barcelona is Real Madrid in LaLiga, meaning it won’t be a good time to be Culer with a nervous disposition.
