Camp Nou Remains Champions League Fortress as Barcelona Rise to Dispatch Resurgent Inter

?Barcelona haven’t won the Champions League since 2015. That stat alone feels remarkable given their repeated dominance in La Liga and countless successes in Europe’s elite club competition.

Having evaded them for four seasons, Ernesto Valverde will be seeking to return the title to the home of the five-time winners, a goal which was aided by La Blaugrana’s comeback victory over Inter on Wednesday night.

Falling behind to an early Lautaro Martinez strike, the hosts were fortunate to head into half-time trailing by just a single goal, with Antonio Conte’s side performing admirably in a stadium that has seen the best sides in Europe falter on many occasions.

However, unfortunately for the Serie A outfit, ?Barça are Barça. And generally, Barça don’t lose at home in the ?Champions League. Luis Suarez notched a fine brace of goals, the second of which came five minutes from the end to secure the comeback victory and keep them on course for the trophy with an undefeated start to the group stages.

Like I said, Barça generally don’t lose at home. Well, in fact, they most certainly don’t lose at home, which has been highlighted by our friends over at Opta.

Remarkably, Wednesday night’s result means Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 33 UEFA Champions League matches at Camp Nou, an utterly mind-boggling statistic that all-but confirms previous suggestions that the squad are indeed robots, and that no amount of tactical nouse or individual wizardry can grant you three points. Sorry.

Furthermore, that run is made all the more impressive when you consider only three of those clashes ended in a draw. Thus, don’t get your hopes up Slavia Praha and Borussia Dortmund, who are next up to face the gruelling task.

Yes, winning at home doesn’t always imply that they qualify through the knockout stages, as last season’s semi-final with ?Liverpool painfully proved, but there is no doubting that Camp Nou is the fortress in European competition. ?Inter have fallen victim to the club’s superiority in Catalonia on two occasions, with last night’s defeat the second they have endured throughout that 33-match streak. 

With that magnificent streak in mind, it seems almost unfathomable that the club have failed to secure the crown since 2015. Sorting out the away form is clearly the issue, and a credible 0-0 draw at the Westfalenstadion in their opening group match might be sign they’re on the right track.

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