Barcelona ‘on the verge of DISASTER’ after 3-3 draw with Inter Milan

Barcelona find themselves ‘in the abyss’ and ‘on the brink of disaster’ after a 3-3 draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League.

The Catalans desperately needed to beat Inter with two clear goals to face each other, with both teams locked in a battle for second place in the group behind German champions Bayern Munich.

It took a stoppage time equalizer from Robert Lewandowski to keep Barcelona’s dim hopes of reaching the last 16 alive.

But Thursday morning’s front pages in Spain could only reflect on a ‘disaster’ of an evening at Camp Nou.

Front pages in Spain on Thursday focused on Barcelona ‘on the brink of disaster’

Mundo Deportivo gave up all but hope of continuing as they are ‘virtually knocked out’

‘KO Virtual’ wrote the Barcelona paper Mundo Deportivo.

MD spoke of a ‘crazy game’ and explained that if Inter beat Viktoria Plzen at the San Siro later this month, Barcelona will step back into the Europa League.

Both Diario AS and Marca went with a bewildered Gerard Pique on the cover with the headline: ‘On the verge of disaster’.

For SPORT, another Barcelona-focused newspaper, they had a photo of a frustrated Lewandowski next to the headline: ‘Alive by a wonder’, after his two late goals saved elimination.

Sport tried to put a positive spin on it by claiming Xavi’s side is alive ‘by a miracle’ after draw

Inter Milan players applauded their traveling fans at Camp Nou after a hard-fought draw

Barcelona got off to a perfect start when Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal of the game five minutes before half time.

But Simone Inzaghi’s Inter rallied from there and two goals on either side of the hour from Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez turned the game on its head.

Lewandowski made it 2-2 eight minutes before time before Inter appeared to have caught a late winner in the 89th minute via fullback Robin Gosens.

Despite a stoppage time header from Lewandowski that kept Barcelona’s vague hopes of progress alive, boss Xavi brazenly admitted his team didn’t deserve to be in the Champions League.

Robert Lewandowski’s stoppage time header was needed to keep the last 16’s dim hopes alive

Xavi admitted his players don’t deserve to be in the Champions League right now

“I’m very disappointed, sad, frustrated, I’m angry,” said Xavi.

“I have to be self-critical, we don’t deserve to play in the Champions League. It hurts me, but it’s the truth.

“I apologize to the fans because we made the mistakes, we were committed not to fail, and we failed, so we have to apologize to the fans, who have been amazing.

“I want to tell them that we will do everything we can to turn this situation around and win titles.”

Barcelona know they have to beat Bayern Munich in their last game and hope Inter Milan slip to bottom-place Viktoria Plzen.