Barcelona are left on the brink of another group-stage elimination from the UEFA Champions League following their 3-3 draw against Inter Milan at Spotify Camp Nou earlier this week.
The Catalan giants have collected just four points from four games in Europe so far this term, which has left them in third place in Group C.
Bayern Munich are already through to the knockouts, having won each of their four games so far, while Inter look primed to take the second spot unless they end up dropping points in their next two matches and the Blaugrana win both of theirs.
As things stand, though, the chances of that happening look very slim and another run in the Europa League seems to be on the cards for Xavi Hernandez & co.
The result is not believed to have gone down too well within the Barcelona board, and as reported by Victor Navarro on COPE, they have drawn three conclusions following the disappointing outcome against Inter.
For starters, despite things not going according to plans so far in Europe, the board is said to have 100% faith in manager Xavi. They still believe that the 42-year-old is the right man to take the team forward, which has been evident in the way Barça have performed in La Liga.
Secondly, the Barcelona board believe that the ‘sacred cows’, i.e., the veteran stars in the club have run out of time. Two of the three goals Inter scored on the night came from mistakes made by Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.
Reports last night indicated that the board had been critical of Pique’s performance, in particular. And they believe that the captains no longer have the required level to perform for the team.
Thirdly, the Barcelona board believe that with a different defensive line they could have won the game against Inter 3-0.
The injuries to Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo have come as big blows for the Blaugrana and the board is of the belief that had the duo been present, things would have been different against the Italian giants.
With the game now in the rearview, the focus shifts to El Clasico against Real Madrid on Sunday at the Bernabeu. And Xavi & co. will need to turn things around and produce a strong reaction at the home of their arch-rivals.