(Munich) FC Barcelona will miss the Champions League knockout stage for the first time in 18 years following a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
FC Barcelona will therefore take part in the Europa League qualifiers after their third place in Group E, the result of SL Benfica’s 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the other match on the evening’s program.
This defeat ended a FC Barcelona campaign that would have been unimaginable in the heyday of the team with Lionel Messi up front and Pep Guardiola as head coach, from 2008 to 2012.
The group stage started with a 3-0 loss to Bayern at Camp Nou, and the situation worsened with a 3-0 setback and a 0-0 draw against SL Benfica.
FC Barcelona have managed just two goals in six games – both against Dynamo Kiev, fourth and last in Group E – and have conceded nine.
We must go back to 2003-2004 to retrace the last time FC Barcelona did not at least go to the knockout stages of the Champions League. That year, FC Barcelona had not even participated in the group stage of the tournament, due to a poor season in the Spanish Championship the previous season. FC Barcelona had played in what was then called the UEFA Cup.
Currently seventh in La Liga, FC Barcelona may not even qualify for the tournament next year.
“We are starting a new era, from scratch, from here, to work hard, to find ‘Barça’ and return ‘Barça’ to the place we deserve, which is to say at the top. Champions League, ”head coach Xavi Hernandez told broadcaster DAZN.
“This is our reality. We are eliminated from the Champions League, we are in the Europa League, but this is not the place of FC Barcelona. ”