Last October, Barcelona’s players and manager boarded a late-night flight from Madrid to return home, expecting a bad reception. By the time they landed, coach and players were no longer colleagues.
Ronald Koeman had been sacked while he sat at the front of the aircraft. He had just overseen a second defeat on the trot, one of them a clasico against Real Madrid. Barca were also heading towards elimination at the group stage of the Champions League.
Fast forward 12 months and the Barcelona who head to the Bernabeu stadium this weekend to contest the leadership of La Liga with their arch-rivals will board their flight much changed in personnel.
The squad is far stronger, on paper, than the one Koeman picked from in his last days in charge. Robert Lewandowski and not Luuk de Jong will be the experienced centre-forward looking forward to his first clasico; Jules Kounde, a €50 million summer purchase, rather than Oscar Mingueza, will be in contention for the tricky right-back position, charged with marking Vinicius Junior.
And the manager? When Koeman was sacked, several thousand metres into Spanish airspace, Barcelona had already lined up his replacement in former club captain Xavi, a relative novice to management at 41 years old. He said yes to his first job as a senior coach in Europe on the promise that, in 2022, big money would somehow be found to strengthen the squad.
More than €200m was spent in his first two windows, much of it on Lewandowski, Kounde and the wingers Raphinha and Ferran Torres. High salaries were offered to players with champion calibre, such as European Cup-winners Marcos Alonso and Andrea Christensen and to Franck Kessie, fresh from winning Serie A.
Barcelona, heavily in debt, had raised the funds for their transfer splurge by selling off stakes in future TV income and other revenue-generating assets. In stretching the margins of the budget, a decent run in the Champions League – going deep into the knockouts can earn a club several tens of millions – was almost assumed.
Barca 3 Inter Milan 3: player ratings
-
BARCELONA PLAYER RATINGS: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – 7. Beaten by Dzeko’s 16th-minute effort which hit the bar and bounced down just in front of his line. Saved from Mkhitaryan on 24 and Dumfries on 27. Big save from Calhanoglu on 59 but Inter scored three, benefitting from some pinball football on a wild, engrossing night. So exposed for Gosens’ third he could do little. Stunning save after 95 minutes. EPA -
Marcos Alonso – 5. His height meant he started ahead of the more regular left backs Jordi Alba and Alejandro Balde. Biggest moment came as he blocked a one-on-one Inter attack after 61, but he struggled to control Dumfries. EPA -
Gerard Pique – 4. Big name, mixed performance. After 49 minutes he was playing well and in the Inter box trying to set up Pedri. A minute later he signalled the all clear to his teammates – except it wasn’t and Inter equalised. Looked like a risk too often. EPA -
Eric Garcia – 7. Spun a 14th-minute ball forward towards Pedri as Barca searched for an equaliser. Beaten by Martinez for Inter’s second but super cross for Lewandowski to make it 3-3. “What can I do?” asked his boss Xavi. “If the defence fails, I fail too.” AFP -
Sergi Roberto – 7. Saw his 30th-minute shot from distance spilled by Onana. Assisted for Dembele to open the scoring with a cross along the byline. Moved into the middle when Barca attacked, but they were too easy to turn over on the defence and he was caught out. EPA -
Sergio Busquets – 6. Gave the ball away to Calhanoglu, which led directly to Inter’s second. Was next seen looking forlorn having been substituted a minute later. AFP -
Gavi – 7. Lost the ball which led to Inter’s best first half attack. In front of a huge 92,302 crowd, Barca started well. “The first half was excellent,” said Xavi. “They suffered a lot. And in the second, mistakes cost us dearly. We tried until the end but it couldn’t happen.” AFP -
Pedri – 6. Buzzing in and about the centre. Smashed by Di Vrij in a yellow card tackle on 56. Dribbled past two defenders on 57 but his shot was easily saved and one of football’s best players won’t be playing Champions League. “The competition has been cruel to us,” said Xavi. “In Munich, with effectiveness. In Milan, due to many circumstances. Today, because of mistakes. Today the word is cruelty.” Getty -
Ousmane Dembele – 7. He tried to run at men in Milan, without success. At home, he tried to be cuter, whipping crosses in. Curled a shot on target after 26. Got ahead of his man to equalise for Barca’s with a side foot – which he and his teammates celebrated with passion and fury. Always a threat, sometimes too selfish in second half. Booked. AFP -
Robert Lewandowski – 9. Ninth-minute header was cleared off the line. Outraged by the heavy challenges of Skriniar. Put ball in the net on 70 but it was offside. His persistence made it 2-2, with a header then a shot which deflected in. He gave it his all and the best came at the last with a splendid header to make it 3-3. Reuters -
Raphinha – 6. Early ball into the box and swung a 10th minute shot over. Underhit free-kicks and really should have hit the target from a Lewandowski cross on 36. Almost made it 2-0, curling a shot wide of Onana’s post. AFP -
SUBS: Frenkie De Jong Busquets 64’) – 8. Made a difference, testing Onana on 72. On this performance, he should have started. Getty -
Ansu Fati (Raphinha 64’) – 6. Difficult against a six-man Inter defence. EPA -
Alejandro Balde (Alonso 72’) – 6. Super cross after bombing down the line which led to the second goal. Getty -
Franck Kessie (Roberto 72’) – 7. A Xavi signing, but one he’s reluctant to start. Brought on with three other subs as Barca pushed for a win they couldn’t record, but he created a chance for Lewandowski. Getty -
INTER MILAN PLAYER RATINGS: Andre Onana – 6. Unconvincing when dealing with a shot and cross from Dembele as well as Roberto’s strike from outside the box. Also rushed out well to deny Pedri and palmed Lewandowski’s attempt away. Wrongfooted by the deflection off Bastoni for Lewandowski’s goal but did outstandingly to pick out Martinez. AFP -
Milan Skriniar – 6. Let Lewandowski know he was there in the early stages, but had a mixed game, making a good header to clear Raphinha’s free-kick delivery while also kicking a simple pass out of play. Got away with a slip at a horrible moment. Blocked Fati’s late shot. Getty -
Stefan de Vrij – 5. Beat Pique to win a vital header and made some perfectly-timed challenges in and around his own box. However, he completely missed the ball when an opportunity arose to score at the other end and his poor clearance fell to Lewandowski for the equaliser. Booked for a late challenge on Pedri. Getty -
Alessandro Bastoni – 7. Stood up well when Lewandowski was twisting and turning in the box and made a good clearance to stop Pedri’s ball through. Dealt with Lewandowski brilliantly when Dembele swung a cross in then played the ball that assisted Barella. Showed great composure when being closed down in a potentially dangerous area but was unlucky that Lewandowski’s shot deflected off him and past Onana. AFP -
Denzel Dumfries – 4. Made a great burst forward to get a chance on goal but smashed the ball straight at Ter Stegen. Completely lost Dembele for the opener. Couldn’t find Martinez with his cross after doing well to get forward, then got behind Pique but tried to cut the ball back instead of shooting and saw it cut out. Reuters -
Nicolo Barella – 8. Showed plenty of energy, putting in a lot of good work to help out his defence. Did brilliantly to pickpocket Gavi and set up Dumfries for a chance that wasn’t taken, but then nipped behind Pique and capitalised on the centre-back’s mistake to equalise. Reuters -
Hakan Calhanoglu – 7. Put in a free-kick delivery that caused chaos in the Barcelona box and deserved a finish. His ambitious shot caused problems for Ter Stegen. Delivered the pass that assisted Martinez. AFP -
Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 6. Made some solid defensive contributions including a clearance off the line and a great tackle on the edge of his own box, but he couldn’t keep up with Roberto in the build-up to the opener. Had a decent shot saved. Booked for a cynical foul on De Jong. EPA -
Federico Dimarco – 5. Showed a lack of quality at times, overhitting his pass to Barella when there was an opportunity to break and conceding a goal kick with a poor corner delivery. Did well to impede Lewandowski when Onana spilled Roberto’s shot but was then beaten too easily by Raphinha in the build-up to the opener. EPA -
Lautaro Martinez – 8. It wasn’t a game where the Argentine had many opportunities, but he took the only real one that came his way by chesting the ball away from Garcia and firing in off both posts. Then played a perfectly-weighted pass to set up Gosens for the winner and should have had another assist for Kristjan Asllani. Booked for kicking the ball away. AFP -
Edin Dzeko – 6. Had moments where he did brilliantly to hold up the ball and bring teammates into the game, while he even made some good defensive headers. Was desperately unlucky to see his shot hit the crossbar and stay out, before his effort was stopped by a great Gavi block. EPA -
SUBS: Matteo Darmian (Dimarco 67’) – 5. Struggled against Dembele at times and was even nutmegged by the Frenchman. AFP -
Robin Gosens (Calhanoglu 76’) – 7. Having been unlucky with a couple of his runs going forward, he applied the coolest of finishes to score Inter’s third. Unlucky to see his header saved in the final seconds. EPA -
Raoul Bellanova (Dzeko 76’) – N/R. Unable to challenge Lewandowski as he headed in the last equaliser, then made a great tackle on Balde before losing the ball and putting his team in an awkward situation. Delivered a cross that Gosens almost scored from in the final seconds (no match photo available). EPA -
Kristjan Asllani (Barella 85’) – N/R. Did well to win the ball back in his box seconds after Gosens’ goal but should have had a goal of his own after being slipped through by Martinez. Getty -
Francesco Acerbi (Bastoni, 85’) – N/R. Got an important header on two Pedri crosses but couldn’t do enough to help his side earn all three points. Getty
But Wednesday’s 3-3 draw at home to Inter Milan puts Xavi in the awkward position of likely being the manager, the would-be saviour who oversees two successive failures to get out of the group phase.
As when Koeman left, Barcelona are sitting third in a group led by Bayern Munich with two matchdays left. They will only go through if Inter fail to win against Viktoria Plzen, who have lost all their games so far, and Bayern; and if Barca win both their remaining games.
Last year, Xavi was not blamed for the European shortfall. He inherited the poor points tally left by Koeman. This October he is the blessed inheritor of a much reinforced squad and, as he admitted after Barca had conceded a half-time lead at Camp Nou to end up scraping a point with two late Lewandowski equalisers. “If we can’t beat Inter at home, we don’t deserve to go through.
“The team’s errors are the manager’s errors,” he added, but also pointed out direct failings that collapsed Barca’s chances of progress. Inter came back into a thrilling contest when Gerard Pique misjudged the offside line and Nicolo Barella tucked the ball home for 1-1. Inter went 2-1 up through Lautaro Martinez after Sergio Busquets had carelessly conceded possession in midfield.
Pique, a pillar of Barcelona’s defence for the last 13 years, would likely not have played had Kounde, Christensen or Ronald Araujo, the combative, athletic young centre-back, not been injured.
-
Shakhtar Donetsk's Ukrainian forward Oleksandr Zubkov celebrates after giving his side the lead in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in Warsaw on October 11, 2022. AFP -
Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger receives medical attention. Reuters -
Antonio Rudiger levels the scores at 1-1 in stoppage time. Reuters -
Shakhtar's Oleksandr Zubkov scores the opening goal. AFP -
Antonio Rudiger of Real Madrid celebrates with team mates after scoring. Getty -
Bohdan Mykhailichenko of Shakhtar Donetsk is challenged by Federico Valverde of Real Madrid. Getty -
Oleksandr Zubkov of Shakhtar Donetsk is challenged by Aurelien Tchouameni of Real Madrid. Getty -
Real's Rodrygo is challenged by Yukhym Konoplya of Shakhtar. Getty -
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti watches the action. EPA -
Shakhtar's Georgiy Sudakov battles with Real's Karim Benzema. EPA
The veteran was doubly blamed by Xavi when the coach told his post-match press conference that preparation for the Inter visit had specifically included marshalling Barella’s late runs into the opposition penalty area. “The planning was good. We had talked about Barella coming from deep,” said Xavi.
These are not happy times for the long-serving Pique, or Busquets, or Jordi Alba, the last of whom owned the left-back position for a decade but finds himself superseded by Marcos Alonso and the emerging Alex Balde. The veteran trio know Xavi from when he was a teammate, who won his fourth Champions League title as a player alongside them.
Pique and Alba now know his loyalty does not extend to automatically picking them. The veterans have also had to hear the club president, Joan Laporta publicly criticise them for not accepting significant wage reductions in order to help the club’s finances.
Laporta remains a strong backer of Xavi, but questions are mounting about how effectively he is harnessing his assembly of new signings. He will oversee his 50th match as manager on Sunday, against the European Cup holders and Liga champions. He goes to the Spanish capital with a points-per-game average no better than Koeman’s was over 67 matches in charge.
The Champions League, reckons Xavi, has been “cruel” to Barcelona. Lose a clasico, as Koeman would testify, and the reaction of those around the club can turn very cruel indeed.
