Oh, Inter defend excellently. The last time i saw Barca stopped like this, and their play being reduced to meaningless passes, was against Chelsea. Actually, that was the only time i saw them being so helpless in the last +1 year time.
It might be ugly to watch teams defending like that, but that's the only way to stop Barca. The difference between Inter and Chelsea is that Chelsea actually had the weapons to create great chances, while Inter didn't.