Barça play against Inter in a match in which lose their ticket for the round of 16 . would greatly complicate
A tie with two legs. That’s where Barcelona start this Tuesday in Italy against Inter Milan. The team led by Xavi will play two games in one week against the Transalpines with the need to be superior and thus secure a ticket to the round of 16, a ticket that Bayern Munich already seem to have secured. The first step, the hardest, will be on a podium for which apologies are no longer valid as the time has come to compete in the top continental competition.
“It’s going well, but now it’s a different story. We just lost in Munich and we have to show personality and tell ourselves that it’s time to perform in this competition. It’s not a final match, but it’s very important for what can happen in the group,” Xavi assured in the pre-match press conference. Tarrasa’s coach is aware of what lies ahead, a game that has been marked in red on the calendar since Bayern handed them their first defeat in this Champions League.
Barcelona arrive at this key moment of the season with morale through the roof. Xavi’s men have had six consecutive wins in the League, they have regained the lead after more than two years and they have a player who proves to be deadly in front of goal and who knows how to behave in these types of events like few others. It’s time for Robert Lewandowski, the time to shine and put an end to the bad run the Catalans have endured in recent seasons in the Champions League, especially outside the Camp Nou.
To do this, Xavi will have to overcome an infirmary that continues to fill up day after day. The ‘FIFA virus’ gave Koundé, Araujo and Memphis Depay the lead, after which Bellerín fell and Frenkie de Jong joined last, who did not arrive in time due to a strain in the semitendinosus of the left thigh. The Dutchman, who was doubtful until the last minute, has not filled in a list of players in which Marc Casadó repeats and from which the Tarrasa coach will have to get a team guarantee. Sergi Roberto could come in on the right, Marcos Alonso on the left and from then on all the meat would be on the grill. Busquets, Gavi, Pedri, Raphinha, Dembélé and Lewandowski, the sextet that most convinced Xavi, would be at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium to take a crucial win to finish in the round of 16.
The good news that Barca has is that the best Inter Milan will not be up front. The team led by Simone Inzaghi has started the season irregularly and is far from the team that conquered Serie A two seasons ago. In the first eight days of the Italian Championship, he has only added 12 points, he has scored 14 goals and therein lies the biggest problem, he has conceded a whopping 13 goals. That figure, which contrasts with the 35 cashed in the last time they became champions, is what Xavi’s team is clinging to to deal the blow that will allow them to take the three points.
Inter is not gaining weight well and will also have to overcome the absence of one of its big banners. Lautaro Martínez, who was practically ruled out by Simone Inzaghi for “muscle fatigue”, will not be there and joins the victims due to injuries to Brozovic, Cordaz, Dalbert and Romelu Lukaku, practically unprecedented this year due to thigh discomfort. All these absences will force the Italian coach to improvise a squad in which the great hope will be Edin Dzeko, especially on the big European nights.
Source: La Verdad
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