A Spanish press report said today, Wednesday, that Italian Inter Milan gave a valuable gift to Barcelona, at the expense of Atletico Madrid.
Atletico Madrid lost to Inter Milan away from home, 0-1, yesterday, Tuesday, in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Atletico's defeat renewed Barcelona's hopes of achieving the miracle and qualifying for the 2025 Club World Cup, with 55 points.
The newspaper confirmed that according to the UEFA classification standards, in the last four editions of the Champions League, Barcelona is still 7 points behind Atletico.
She added that if Barca wins over Napoli today, Wednesday, the difference with Atletico will be reduced to 5 points, taking into account that each win gives its owner two points, while passage to the quarter-finals gives an additional point.
Therefore, Barcelona needs two victories against Napoli, with Atletico losing again to Inter, in addition to Barcelona winning at least one match in the quarter-finals, to achieve 7 points, and thus equal Atletico Madrid’s tally (62 points).
According to UEFA's criteria, in the event of a tie on points, the team with the most points in the same year will go the following year to the Club World Cup, which will be Barcelona.
If Atletico returns and qualifies for the quarter-finals, Barcelona will have to reach the semi-finals by winning two matches in that round and losing Atletico in each of them.
Barcelona and Atletico are competing for second place as the Spanish team participating in the Club World Cup in its new format, after Real Madrid secured first place as European champion in the 2021-22 season.
