UCL Inter activates Europa Lever for Barcelona with Plzen win
Inter Milan are through to the 2022/23 Champions League knockout stages after a 4-0 victory against Viktoria Plzeň in a matchday five fixture played on Wednesday, October 26, 2022.
In the early kickoff, Inter Milan needed a victory to knock out Barcelona and progress from the group with Bayern Munich.
Inter Milan started off dominating their opponents from the Czech Republic. In the 35th minute, Henrikh Mkhitaryan headed in a cross by Alessandro Bastoni to give the hosts the lead.
In the 42nd minute, Edin Džeko tapped in the second from a cross by Federico Dimarco as Inter Milan went to the halftime break with a comfortable lead.
Dzeko scored the third for Inter Milan assisted by partner Lautaro Martínez in the 68th minute.
Inter Milan got the fourth when substitute Romelu Lukaku converted a cross by Joaquín Correa. Simone Inzaghi’s team claimed all three points and booked their place in the knockout stages.
Reactions as Inter Milan sends Barcelona to Europa League
It was expected that Inter Milan would defeat Plzen at San Siro confirming Barcelona’s return to the Europa League before their clash against Bayern Munich.
Football fans of several clubs took to social media to mock Barcelona for participating in Europa’s second-tier football competition.
Last season Barcelona dropped from the Champions League group stages to the Europa League only to lose in the quarterfinals to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.
Barcelona activated several levers to recruit Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, Jules Kounde from Sevilla and Raphinha from Leeds United.
