Xavi Hernandez said the Champions League has been cruel to Barcelona this season as they face being knocked out in the group stages for the second year running after failing to beat Inter Milan on Wednesday.
Barca will be eliminated if Inter take three points from their final two games against Viktoria Plzen and Bayern Munich following a thrilling 3-3 draw at Camp Nou.
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“The Champions League is being cruel to us this season,” Xavi bemoaned in his postgame news conference. “Against Bayern Munich, we were not clinical enough. There were other circumstances in Milan last week, but there is no need to talk about [those refereeing decisions], and then tonight it is down to defensive mistakes.
“Our chances of going through our very remote now. We won’t lose hope, but the situation is really difficult. We no longer depend on ourselves and it is down to our own errors.”
Ousmane Dembele had opened the scoring in the 40th minute in front of a raucous home crowd of 92,302, but goals from Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez turned the game on its head after the break.
Robert Lewandowski drew Barca level again only for Robin Gosens to restore Inter’s lead on the counter-attack. Lewandowski equalised once more in stoppage time with his fifth goal in the competition this season, but it was too late for Xavi’s side.
Defender Gerard Pique had switched off for Inter’s first goal, letting Barella run in behind to finish, while captain Sergio Busquets gave the ball away in the build-up to the second.
