Well it was one of the most anticipated matches of the season. During the UEFA Champions League lottery months back it was the fixture that made every other club in the room whisper among each other in fear. Nobody wanted to be in the group with these two squads. And can you blame them?
Going into last Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League group table draw between Barca and Inter, it looked as if Inter had the advantage. In fact if the Italian giants won the match then they would remove Barcelona from the picture completely ending their dreams of a consecutive treble in November, but knowing how Barcelona plays in vital matches you can probably guess that didn’t happen.
Another factor that favored Inter was the starting lineups of the two squads. No Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Lionel Messi in the starting eleven; whereas Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o both entered the match at full health. Barcelona would take such a commanding lead in the first half that they would not need to use either star down the stretch.
Early in the match it was Pique who would set the tone on a corner. The Inter defense was slightly suspect on the play as the ball was headed to the back of the goal post to a wide open Pique. Despite nearly getting his shirt ripped off the Barca star put away the goal and gave Barcelona a lead in the first ten minutes of the match. Another goal in the early 20’s off of a brilliant order of passes sealed the match early and gave Barcelona a lead in the group table.
Inter is still in second place and look to clinch a spot in their next match, but the dominating play by Barca set the tone for the next match sometime down the road between the two squads.
