The story is over. Barcelona woke up from their treble dream at the hands of Inter Milan. The Catalan team deserved much more, but football is often cruel. On Tuesday, the game rewarded the team that put in the least effort, both in this match and throughout the knockout stages.
Barcelona’s players succeeded in achieving what seemed impossible, overturning a two-goal deficit for the second time in the tournament. However, it wasn’t enough. In the 87th minute, Barcelona were leading 3-2, but Hansi Flick’s men failed to manage the remaining minutes. They conceded an equalizer two minutes from time, followed by Inter’s fourth goal shortly after the start of extra time. Subsequent attempts were insufficient to remedy the situation, and Barcelona was eliminated from the tournament just one step away from the final.
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The competition isn’t over for the Catalan team; quite the opposite. They face a crucial match on Sunday in La Liga. A victory over Real Madrid could reduce the gap to just seven points, with nine points remaining in the season. Therefore, Hansi Flick will need to carefully select his starting lineup, as there is no room for error. According to the opinions of several players on the team, Ronald Araujo should not be in this lineup.
Araujo was exposed in Inter’s last two goals. In Acerbi’s goal, he failed to close the angle or cover a potential shot properly. And in Frattesi’s fourth goal, he did not show the necessary strength in his confrontation with Thuram.
Within the team, opinions differed between those who blamed the refereeing and those who attributed the reason to player fatigue, but inside the dressing room, the message was clear: Araujo should not have played in such an important match. The decision appears to have been more a result of holding on to the player after refusing to let him leave during the winter transfer window, rather than meeting the team’s technical needs at this crucial moment.
