Analytics Report: Champions League Match Of The Week – Matchday 4 – Barcelona vs Inter

Inter visited the Camp Nou for their reverse fixture against Barcelona after beating them at the San Siro. Ousmane Dembele scored the opening goal in the 40th minute as the hosts led at half-time.

Inter then completed a stunning comeback as they scored twice in thirteen minutes. Lewandowski equalised with eight minutes remaining in normal time, but Gosens’s goal in the 89th minute put Inter in a great position.

However, Lewandowski scored again with a world-class header before Inter missed a glorious chance to win the game. Overall, it was a disappointing performance and result for Xavi and his players as they are now likely to drop to the Europa League.

Also read: UCL: Top Performers Of UCL Matchday 4

In the chart below, we have the analytics data from the game.

Almost every single statistic tells Barcelona outplayed and outperformed Inter. However, as it happens many times, once again, Barcelona had all the possession, but poor defending took the points away from them.

Barca had 60% of the ball as they clearly dominated the game, while Inter were efficient in getting the best out of the 40% possession they had. The xG was quite close, with Inter’s at 1.7 and Barca’s at 1.8, as both sides outperformed their expected goals. Inter had 8 out of 11 shots on target, while Barcelona had 10 out of 25 attempts on goal.

Xavi’s side recorded 38 shot-creating actions to Inter’s 19 SCA, with the away side recording 4 goal-creating actions to Barca’s 6 GCA. Barcelona registered 19 key passes to Inter’s 9 while also registering 81% pass completion to Inter’s 67.9%. Inter completed 16 tackles to Barcelona’s 15 while also recording 17 interceptions to Barca’s 23.

One stat which tells a lot about Barcelona’s high domination is progressive passes, as Inter completed just 17 in the whole game while Barca completed an imposing 62 progressive passes.

Inter’s strategy to hit Barca on the counter worked well, and it’s certain that the Catalans will rue their missed chances in the game.