{"id":95235,"date":"2022-10-12T22:18:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T22:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-lewandowski-keeps-barcelona-alive-in-pulsating-draw-with-inter-champions-league\/"},"modified":"2022-10-12T22:18:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T22:18:00","slug":"robert-lewandowski-keeps-barcelona-alive-in-pulsating-draw-with-inter-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/robert-lewandowski-keeps-barcelona-alive-in-pulsating-draw-with-inter-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Lewandowski keeps Barcelona alive in pulsating draw with Inter | Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Barcelona stepped back from the edge but they still stare into the abyss. A late, late goal from Robert Lewandowski, his second of the night, keeps them in the Champions league \u2013 but only just and quite probably not for long. Three-two down, Robin Gosens having seemingly slipped in the knife with just two minutes to go, they were in the 92nd minute when the Pole headed Barcelona level. Their fate is not in their own hands, but at least they are not finished. Not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n

This was a wild night, with an even wilder finish. From 1-0 up to 2-1 down, from 2-2 and chasing the winner that would change everything, to 3-2 down and then 3-3, Barcelona were left breathing, if barely. Having seemingly lost it and then found a way back in, they almost lost it again, only for Marc-Andr\u00e9 ter Stegen to make an astonishing save right at the death. Had that gone in, and it should have done, they would have been knocked out of the Champions league with two games to go. Instead, they stumble on. They need to win their final two games and hope Inter do win either of theirs.<\/p>\n

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The place was packed and Barcelona were keen to get on with it, the fans whistling Inter goalkeeper Andr\u00e9 Onana for wasting time before he had had any time to waste. It was true though that on his return to the stadium where he once lived but never played, he wasn’t in the kind of hurry the home side were \u2013 and yet it was Inter who had the first chance, when Lautaro Mart\u00ednez escaped on the left and struck a shot into the side-netting.<\/p>\n

As it turned out, the flag was up but that was an early glimpse of the threat that Inter posed when they went long beyond the press and of Barcelona’s vulnerability to that out-ball. That risk was revealed again when from a Barcelona corner Nicol\u00f2 Barella pushed his way past Gavi and into the open space beyond, reaching the area and rolling the ball into the path of Denzel Dumfries, whose shot was blocked by the left arm of Ter Stegen .<\/p>\n

By then, Inter had come even closer as Edin Dzeko dived in to take Hakan Calhanoglu’s delivery on the bounce, his half-volley hitting the bar and dropping on the line, where it was somehow scrambled away from the waiting Mart\u00ednez. Yet it was Barcelona who carried the weight of the game, Lewandowski seeing an early header cleared off the line. The problem at that stage appeared to be that it was a little predictable, the ball put into the area too early. A superb angled ball from Eric Garc\u00eda in to Pedri was an exception.<\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>Robin Gosens (right) celebrates with his teammates after scoring Inter’s third goal on the counterattack<\/span> Photograph: Joan Monfort\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chances came though, and Barcelona were growing. So was the corner count, reaching seven within half an hour. Raphinha volleyed over the clearest of the opportunities from Lewandowski’s cross. Onana almost knocked the ball into his own net as his dive saw him fall on to the ball from an Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 shot, next he spilled a Sergi Roberto shot, just about recovering as Lewandowski slid in, and then he made a sharp save at the feet of Pedri.<\/p>\n

Barcelona though did find a way through. From deep in the corner Raphinha won the ball and took Federico Dimarco and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out of the game with a clever pass into Sergi Roberto. Alone in the area, he sent it across to Demb\u00e9l\u00e9, who sprinted in to score and didn’t stop running until he had reached the touchline and was in Xavi’s arms.<\/p>\n

That was five minutes before the break; five minutes after it, Inter were level. A speared pass to Alessandro Bastoni caught Gerard Piqu\u00e9 behind his defense, playing everyone onside. Worse, not only did he step up late, he raised his hands to see the ball through, unaware of the danger behind him. Barella, to Pique’s horror suddenly alone from close range, controlled, turned and provided the finish.<\/p>\n

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