Veterans' errors cost Barca dear in Champions League again

Barcelona were left ruing the cost of individual errors after their 3-3 draw with Inter Milan left them on the verge of Champions League elimination at the group stage for the second year running. Gerard Pique played Nicolo Barella onside and let the ball travel through to him to level for Inter at 1-1, with Sergio Busquets softly ceding possession for the Italians' second goal at Camp Nou, scored by Lautaro Martinez. Both players are club veterans and coming towards the end of their careers in Barcelona, a process which some supporters felt should have been sped up in the summer.

The draw means Barcelona's fate rests in the hands of already-eliminated Viktoria Plzen, with the Czech minnows needing to take points off Inter on October 26 for Barcelona to have any chance of surviving in the competition. The Catalans lost at Bayern and Inter and are three points behind the second-place Italian side in Group C, with a worse head-to-head record, ahead of the final two matches. Xavi has barely used Pique this season but handed the 35-year-old his first Champions League start of the season because of injuries to Ronald Araujo, Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen.

Busquets, 34, who is out of contract at the end of the season, has retained a key role in defensive midfield this season but was withdrawn immediately after his mistake by Xavi as Barcelona chased the game. "It came down to our errors," said Xavi. "The first goal set us back mentally, the second goal is a goal that cannot happen in this competition, in elite football.