Eric Garcia conceded Barcelona “made mistakes that cannot be made” in their thrilling Champions League draw with Inter.
Xavi’s side are hanging on by a thread in UEFA’s flagship club competition, needing Inter to fail to win either of their final two games if they are to snatch progression from Group C.
Barca were indebted to two late equalisers from Robert Lewandowski, who cancelled out Robin Gosens’ 89th-minute strike after already making it 2-2.
Garcia acknowledged Barca were far from good enough in a second half that also saw Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez score after Ousmane Dembele’s earlier opener.
“We have made mistakes that cannot be made at this level,” the centre-back told Movistar.
“We were where we wanted, pressing high, stealing balls and we wanted to continue the same way, but in the second there was a lot of lack of control and we took the risk of playing with three at the back.
“They were the 15 minutes that almost killed us. We battled to the end to get the draw and as long as there is hope we have to continue.[But] we had a huge opportunity and we did not take advantage of it.”
Simone Inzaghi’s side require just one win from games against Viktoria Plzen and Bayern Munich, who have already progressed, to seal a place in the last 16 – but goalscorer Barella insisted the job is not complete yet.
“We really wanted a win. A draw arrived instead, but we are still very happy with our spirit on the pitch,” the Italy international told Amazon Prime Video. “We are finding it and we are satisfied.
“We went through a period in which nothing suited us and we got carried away – now we want to return to the team we were.
“It’s not done yet. You never know – we’ll give it our all until the end.”