Madrid, October 13 (PL) -- Barcelona dawned today with the feeling of being on the threshold of shipwreck in the Champions League soccer, and now depends on nothing less than Bayern Munich.
The morbidity, always present in the sport of crowds, took over Barcelona's Camp Nou and the label of favorite of the hosts was left in anguish and despair to draw in extremis with Inter Milan 3-3.
The European Champions League was turned upside down, with a great chance of being eliminated in the group stage.
For that not to happen, two miracles would have to happen: beating their Black Beast, Bayern Munich on October 26, and hoping that Inter loses to weak Czech side Viktoria Plzn on the same day.
In fact, the Italian club's match will take place before Xavi Hernandez's Azulgranas, so beating the Germans would be more like revenge.
The Teutons, already virtually in the round of 16, have 12 points, followed by Inter with seven and Barça with four. The Milan side would secure their ticket if they beat the Czechs, even if they lose to Bayern Munich on the final matchday.
At the end of the first half, the blaugranas achieved what seemed to be a positive result against Inter Milan, with a goal by Frenchman Ousmane Dembelé after 40 minutes. But the second half changed the dynamic completely.
Nicolo Barella equalized in the 50th minute and Argentine Lautaro Martinez put Inter ahead in the 63rd minute. Agonizingly, Barcelona returned to the embrace in the 82nd minute after a bad clearance that the always voracious Polish striker Robert Lewandowski took advantage of.
However, in the 89th minute, Robin Gosens gave the Italians the lead after a remarkable pass from Lautaro and when everything seemed to be settled, Lewandowski headed again to make the score 3-3. A bad taste in the mouth, however, for the Catalans.
After large mortgages (the famous levers) to make high-flying signings, Barcelona is in danger of facing a delicate financial situation. Failure to advance to the round of 16 in the Champions League means, at the very least, the loss of 20 million euros.
For its part, Atletico Madrid once again made things difficult for itself by drawing at home with surprising Belgian side Brugge, which with the 0-0 result virtually sealed its place in the round of 16 in Group B with 10 points.
The great performance of Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet was the key to the result, with a Madrid team more focused on attack, but without effectiveness, except for two clear chances, from Alvaro Morata, who crashed a shot against the goalkeeper's face, and from Brazilian Matheus Cunha, with a shot over the crossbar.
The dispute for second place in the standings is now concentrated between Atleti (4 points), Porto (6) and Bayern Leverkusen, who have only three points.
Yesterday, the current Champions League champions, Real Madrid, secured their ticket to the next phase with a nerve-wracking one-goal draw against the tough Ukrainian Shakhtar, while Sevilla also drew with a similar scoreline, but to sink in the table, with no chance of improving in the Champions League.
