Omens of Barcelona side against Inter as they aim to avoid another humiliating Champions League exit

Missing the knockout stages of the Champions League last season - the first time since the 2003-04 campaign - was seen as the ultimate humiliation for Barcelona.

At a time when they were struggling domestically after losing their greatest player of all time, and with their financial situation grim for all to see, finishing behind Benfica to qualify for the Europa League was a nadir in the post-Messi era.

Almost a year later, with Xavi now settled into the technical sphere after replacing Ronald Koeman, things are much brighter for Barca both on and off the pitch. But while they may be top of La Liga after a strong start to the campaign, they are once again in danger of missing out on post-Christmas football in UEFA's flagship competition.

Anything other than a win over Inter at Camp Nou on Wednesday would effectively knock them out of the top two, with Bayern Munich looking like they have good value to seal the top spot, although history is certainly on their side up front the vital match.

While Xavi will no doubt have his eye on Sunday's top-scoring Clasico with Real Madrid, Inter's visit is just as - if not more - important than what's to come later in the season. week.

Barca were counting on reaching the latter stages of the Champions League when it came to predicting their financial future earlier this year, and anything less would leave the club desperately trying to generate cash through other means - if any still exist at this stage.

The Catalan giants, however, have plenty to be positive about ahead of taking on Inter, even though they lost 1-0 in the second leg last week to drop three points behind their second-placed opponents.

Here, Stats Perform takes a look at how Group C forms at the halfway mark and exactly why Barca have what it takes to turn their European campaign around while still qualifying for the knockout stages.

A MATCH TO WIN

Barcelona kicked off their Champions League season with an emphatic 5-1 win over top-seeded Viktoria Plzen, their third of four straight wins in all competitions in a fast start to the 2022-23 campaign.

A 2-0 defeat at Bayern, in which Robert Lewandowski squandered a few presentable chances against his former side with a scoreless game, somewhat halted their momentum and set up an intriguing trip to Inter, who had himself lost to Bayern and defeated Plzen.

If Group C were to follow this pattern - and there's every reason that could happen given Bayern's dominant European form and Plzen's struggles in the competition proper - Wednesday's clash simply has to to win from Barça's point of view and not to lose for Inter.

That's what made Hakan Calhanoglu's winning goal in last week's game at the San Siro so important, even though Barca had every right to feel aggrieved by the scoreline at the end of a match in which he had 72% of the ball.< /p>

Inter attempted just five shots and racked up an expected goal return (xG) of 0.18, the lowest of any team to win a Champions League game this season. For context, Barca had an xG of 0.47 - by no means a huge number on its own, but enough to point out that they created better quality chances.

THE RETURN OF LEWANGOALSKI?

It was ultimately Inter who came away with three vital points, with that Calhanoglu winner coming from an xG of 0.067, to leave the pressure on Barcelona when the teams meet in Catalonia.

It also meant Xavi became the first Barcelona manager to lose their first three Champions League away games, but Barca have dominated on their home turf this season, winning each of their last four outings and scoring 13 goals, with seven to come. via Lewandowski.

Lewandowski has had a few days off on the continent since scoring a hat-trick against Plzen, after a wild display at Bayern with a quiet outing against Inter in which he had just one single shot.

However, not since between August and October 2020, a run that began in Bayern's Champions League final win over Paris Saint-Germain, has Lewandowski gone three consecutive appearances without finding the net in the competition.

THE STRUGGLES OF THE CAMP NOU OF INTER

Barcelona's solid home form in European competition extends beyond this season, although their terrible spell under Koeman has somewhat marred what is otherwise a pretty formidable record.

The La Liga giants have lost just three of their last 44 Champions League home games, winning 36 of them. Their only three defeats in this series have come in the six matches supervised by Koeman.

Inter have lost on seven of their last eight trips to Spain in the competition since last winning against Valencia in 2004, meanwhile, a run that includes losses to Barca in the 2018-19 campaigns and 2019-20. .