Three talking points from Barcelona’s loss to Inter

This was supposed to be a new Barcelona side. A side constructed to improve upon the poor showing from last season’s Champions League fiasco.

Against Inter Milan, Barcelona looked bereft of ideas, played abysmal and lost 1-0 to pull them down to third place in group C.

A wonderful strike by Hakan Çalhanoğlu in the added minutes of the first half was enough to give the home side the win and the all-important three points.

All the talk about Inter’s frailties in defense were moot as the Serie A team sat back and did not allow Barcelona any space to create opportunities. The center-backs did well to contain Robert Lewandowski who frequently had to drop deep to get a touch of the ball.

It was a vintage Inter performance.

With that being said, here are three talking points from the match.

Xavi got his tactics wrong and was unable to adjust

Since being named Barcelona manager, Xavi Hernandez has rarely put a foot wrong. But he got it completely wrong in terms of his lineup.

With the injuries to Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo and Hector Bellerin, Xavi was forced to experiment. Sergi Roberto and Marcos Alonso started at fullbacks. While neither had a terrible game, they were ineffective in attack.

Alonso ended up being subbed off for Balde in the second half.

Another point of contention is his use of Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele. So far this season, Raphinha has operated better playing on the right side of the attack. Xavi’s insistence on using him on the left came back to haunt him.

In games where the Brazilian has struggles, Xavi’s made the decision to switch them. He opted against it and Raphinha also ended up being subbed off in what was perhaps his worst performance since arriving.

Barcelona once again futile against a team who sits deep

A weakness of the great Barcelona teams of old was they would struggle mightily to break down a team who sat deep and was well-organized in defense.

It happened under Pep Guardiola and it’s happening under Xavi. The difference being that more often than not, Guardiola had a certain Lionel Messi who would produce a moment of magic.

With some of the players brought in this season, one would have assumed Xavi would have a better gameplan to try to break down a defensive wall. He couldn’t do it in the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt and couldn’t do it against Inter.

The plan appeared to be to get the ball to the flank and send in a cross and hope Lewandowski can get to it and score. Barcelona constantly tried it only for Inter to easily get rid of any danger. The Catalans didn’t attempt any shots from outside the area either, which could have been a decent alternative to get a rebound or pull the defense out to find space inside the box.

VAR controversy does not excuse Barcelona’s poor display

Barcelona though they found their equalizer midway through the second half. Andre Onana swiped at a cross but missed. The ball fell to Pedri who slotted home. But on a review, the ball hit Ansu Fati’s hand before it reached Pedri, thus disallowing the goal.

Barcelona then though they had a decent shout at a penalty during stoppage time. This time, the ball hit Denzel Dumfries in the arm as Ansu Fati was getting ready for a header. VAR took a look at it and, incredibly, a penalty was not given.

The handball was clear on replay but, unlike with the Fati handball, the referee did not go take a look at the monitor.

Both the players and managers felt a penalty should have been given and they certainly have a case that it was a blown call.

They may point to the penalty as to why Barcelona lost the game but they simply weren’t good enough. They couldn’t get through the Inter defense and a number of players were below their usual best.

With the loss, Barcelona now truly face a must win game next week at the Camp Nou. Win and their Champions League hopes remain intact. Lose and you’re all but out and it’ll be another season in the Europa League.

With the amount of money invested in the team, it would be a colossal failure.

One thing is for certain, Barcelona are going to have to play a whole lot better than they did tonight if they want to beat Inter Milan at home.