There was mostly eerie silence at Camp Nou on the final whistle after Wednesday’s Champions League Group C game finished Barcelona 3-3 InterMilan was shocked to discover that the Catalans were already out of the competition.
As Inter’s players, coaches and fans celebrated in their small pockets, most of the crowd of 92,302 supporters were stunned and exhausted – as were the blaugrana team, their coach Xavi Hernandez and the club president Joan Laporta.
This was not supposed to be happening after Barca’s eventful summer 2022, with the noise of financial levers being pulled and the excitement generated by new signings like Robert Lewandowski. All of this was done to ensure that the club was prepared for big nights such as these with a rebuilt team capable of competing for the top trophies.
Two months into the 2022/23 season, this theory looks very fragile indeed. Barca’s new team began the season impressively in La Liga, with Lewandowski scoring goals and most of the other new signings appearing to settle quickly.
These last weeks have seen back-to-back UCL Group defeats to Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Inter Milan. Barca claimed that they had been unlucky during both games. However, they could turn the tables on Wednesday.
90 minutes of huge excitement and chaos later, it was clear that Laporta’s plan through the summer to mortgage the club’s future to become instantly competitive had not worked.
Barring a miracle over the remaining two group games, Xavi’s team are headed again for the
