Robert Lewandowski rescued Barcelona‘s Champions League knockout round hopes with two late goals to earn his side a 3-3 draw with Inter Milan at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
Xavi Hernandez’s Barca needed at least a draw to have a chance to avoid missing the knockout rounds for the second year in a row and the Poland international delivered the goods near the end of a dramatic second half.
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Edin Dzeko was denied by the crossbar for Inter’s opener just after 15 minutes as the visitors looked to carry the momentum of their 1-0 win over Barca at the San Siro last Tuesday into the reverse fixture.
Barca, who pressed hard for their first, took a deserved lead into the break when Ousmane Dembele shot past Andre Onana from Sergi Roberto‘s pass across the six-yard box just before half-time.
Inter drew level early in the second half through Nicolo Barella, who pounced on a cross from Alessandro Bastoni and finished past Marc-Andre ter Stegen from close range.
Lautaro Martinez fired Simone Inzagh’s side into the lead shortly past the hour mark with a fine individual effort, settling Hakan Calhanoglu‘s long ball over the top of the defence, beating his marker and lashing home a low shot to pile more pressure on Barca.
Summer-signing Lewandowski did what he was brought in to do in the 82nd minute as his header from a cross into the area came back to him off an Inter defender and he shot past Onana with a second effort to make it 2-2.
But Inter’s Robin Gosens put Inter back in the lead minutes later with a tidy finish on the counter before Lewandowski headed in for his brace in second
