Barcelona 2 - Inter Milan 0: And It Wasn't Even Close

Barcelona completely dominated Inter Milan in their Champions League game yesterday. The stats for the game don’t really do justice in demonstrating that Inter Milan really wasn’t ever in the game and never really threatened. Unfortunately I didn't do an in depth break-down like Brig to really portray how much Barcelona dominated. It’s also hard with a game like this because the teams have two completely different styles. Barcelona plays for possession. They have such a strong midfield and they will pass the ball back in forth for 10 minutes without moving forward in order to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack. The highlights below fail to show some of the brilliant passing and opportunities that Iniesta and Xavi were creating throughout the night. Although the second goal is pure Barcelona and soccer brilliance. The worst part about the goal is actually the finish. It’s not a bad finish by any means, but the set up is pure gold.

Inter Milan on the other hand plays more of the Italian style where they are defensive minded and play for the counter attack or fastbreak. I’m not positive that is their style, I haven’t watched many of their games, but I’m basing that on what I know of the team and what I saw yesterday. Of course, yesterday it’s hard to say if they had any style. They couldn’t control the ball. They couldn’t create passes. They had almost no offensive opportunities throughout the entire game.

Even though it wasn’t necessarily a “do or die” game for either team, I expected a better showing or more urgency or inspiration from Inter Milan. They looked dead on the field. They would have greatly benefited from a tie or even a win. Barcelona is a world class team, but they have been struggling lately and have not been playing at the level they were last year. Either they found their groove just in time for "El Clasico", or Inter is just not very good. Regardless, they handled Inter last night and created a true "do or die" game on December 9 between Inter Milan and the enigma that is FK Rubin Kazan. Not sure where they came from or what they have up their sleeve, but they seem like the perfect candidate to be the spoil the potential party in Milan.