For Barcelona, suddenly, there is pressure. Tuesday’s 1–0 defeat at Inter Milan means that at the halfway stage of the Champions League group stage it sits third in the group, three points behind Inter and six behind Bayern Munich. If Xavi’s side does not beat Inter at home next week, the likelihood is that it will go out of the Champions League before the knockout stage for the second successive season.
Having sold so many assets, having effectively mortgaged so much of the future of the club on the expectation of instant success—beyond La Liga, where it sits in first through seven games—that would be a severe blow. This was always a difficult group, and these last two games, away to Bayern and Inter, were clearly tough, by far the hardest games Barça has faced this season, but the way it has not merely failed to win either, but failed even to score, must be a concern—despite all the entirely reasonable caveats that this is a very new team still in the process of meshing.
And this is not even an Inter Milan side that’s in form. After coming so close to defending its title last season, this has not been a good start to the campaign for Simone Inzaghi, whose side lies ninth in Serie A, having lost four games already this season, including three of the previous four. In part, that’s a result of the muscular problems that have kept Romelu Lukaku out since the end of August, preventing him from re-establishing his partnership with Lautaro Martínez. But there’s also an issue of mentality: the defeat to Roma last weekend was almost entirely the result of Inter losing composure.
