IKEJABIRD 
SPORTS 
Barcelona on the verge of dropping to Europa League, after 3:3 draw to Inter Milan at home
Barcelona Risked It All, Only to End Up on Brink of Early Champions League Elimination
A dramatic draw vs. Inter Milan gives Barcelona a lifeline, but it’s unlikely to be enough to stave off a third-place finish and drop down to the Europa League.
An Inter win on the next matchday over Viktoria Plzen, the group’s bottom side after four straight defeats, will be enough to send the Italian side through with Bayern Munich and consign Barça again to third place and the Europa League (by virtue of last week’s loss to Inter and Wednesday’s draw, Inter holds the tiebreaker). That would come with serious repercussions for the reboot of the club, both financially and in terms of any sense of competitive momentum. And this is not just about immediate consequences: the pattern of Barcelona Champions League games under Xavi has become very familiar and must feel very frustrating for the fans and club owners.
Yet the feeling is not that Barcelona has been playing poorly. On the contrary, as seven wins and a draw from eight games has left them top of La Liga entering Sunday’s Clásico vs. Real Madrid. They didn’t play badly in either defeat in the Champions League, either. Against Bayern, in particular, Barcelona had chances, but after a couple of uncharacteristic misses from Robert Lewandowski, Wednesday’s hero, they conceded twice early in the second half. Against Inter last week, a couple of key handball decisions went against Barcelona, leading to a sense of misfortune.
The 3:3 draw against Inter Milan It’s a valuable point, one that at least keeps Barcelona with a mathematical chance of reaching the last 16 for another couple of weeks, but a win was required. And the fact is that Barcelona keeps being found out in the same manner, keeps failing to make possession count, they kept losing defensive shape as they went all out to get a win. This is still largely a young side and it may mature—but the financial risk taken on this summer means that Barcelona has little time, and running out of patience.
