Barcelona need to beat Inter to avoid another early CL exit
MILAN, Oct 10, (AP): Barcelona could be on the verge of another humiliating groupstage exit from the Champions League.
With Barcelona and Inter Milan seemingly competing for second spot in Group C, behind a perfect Bayern Munich, it’s advantage to the Italian side after it controversially won 1-0 at San Siro last week.
Another victory for Inter at Barcelona on Wednesday would mathematically qualify the Nerazzurri for the round of 16 and consign Barcelona to an early exit from the competition for the second straight year - unless Bayern lose to Viktoria Plzen in what would be a major upset.
Barcelona will be looking to Robert Lewandowski for inspiration. The former Bayern Mu- nich forward netted a hat trick against Plzen but was kept quiet against his old team and was largely anonymous in the first match against Inter.
“It’s an important match in which we will have everything on the line,” Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso said after the Catalan club beat Celta Vigo 1-0 at home Sunday for its seventh straight Spanish league victory.
Inter will be hoping the victory against Barcelona signaled a turning point in their season after a mediocre start to the domestic campaign which saw them lose four of their opening eight Serie A matches before that important Champions League win.
Simone Inzaghi’s side made it two wins in a row with a 2-1 victory at Sassuolo on Saturday.
“We showed in the last game against Barcelona that we had turned a page,” Inter midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan said after the Sassuolo win. “We are Inter and we showed we never give up.”
Inter will still be without injured forwards Romelu Lukaku and Joaquín Correa.
Apart from Bayern and Inter, a number of other teams can secure their spots in the next round with two matches to spare if they win this week. Napoli handed Ajax their worst-ever Champions League defeat last week with a 6-1 rout to remain perfect and will be confident of progressing when they host the Dutch club on Wednesday. Club Brugge, Real Madrid and Manchester City have also won their three matches and they face Atlético Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and Copenhagen, respectively. Borussia Dortmund could also progress with a win at home to Sevilla on Tuesday.
Paris Saint-Germain and Benfica will fight again on Tuesday for top spot in Group H as they both have seven points while Juventus are in third place with three. Benfica will feel confident after thei 1-1 draw with PSG as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma had to make a number of crucial saves to prevent the Portuguese side from winning. PSG also produced a mediocre performance
SOCCER
in a 0-0 draw with lowly Reims in the French league on Saturday but nevertheless remained unbeaten in all competitions this season. There is another matchup between a Portuguese side and a French team as Sporting Lisbon host Marseille on Wednesday. Marseille are fourth but only three points behind Group D leaders Sporting.
Chelsea started group play with a shock loss quickly followed by the firing of its manager. The London club lookto be back on track. A 3-0 win over AC Milan in Group E last week was a sign that Graham Potter - the replacement for Thomas Tuchel - was stamping his mark on Chelsea. Another win by the same score line, at home to Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Saturday, backed that up. It was even achieved without forwards Raheem Sterling and PierreEmerick Aubameyang, who were rested by Potter in the probability they will return at San Siro on Tuesday. Of the other English teams, Liverpool can strengthen their position in second place in Group A with a second straight win on Wednesday over Rangers, which have lost all three games so far. Group D, containing Tottenham, looks wide open with the four teams separated by three points. Tottenham and Eintracht Frankfurt are tied on four points ahead of their match in London on Wednesday.
Sevilla have a different coach in charge for their trip to Dortmund on Tuesday after Jorge Sampaoli replaced Julen Lopetegui following last week’s 4-1 home loss to the German club. Sevilla must beat Dortmund to have a realistic chance of advancing in Group G but have only one win in 11 matches after drawing 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao on Saturday in Sampaoli’s first game in charge.