A year and a half ago, Barcelona, Juventus and Atlético de Madrid were among the spearheads of the Superleague project. Since fate is a joker, these three clubs suffered one of their greatest European failures in the same week. Tuesday October 25 and Wednesday October 26, Blaugranas, Colchoneros and Bianconeri were eliminated from the Champions League even before the last day of the group stage. More than accidents, these runway excursions testify to glaring structural problems among these leaders who only have the name.
The Catalans far from the European cream
Did we get carried away too quickly about this Barça? At the end of a gloomy past season, the Blaugranas had deployed heavy artillery to attract Robert Lewandowski, Jules Koundé or Raphinha. These arrivals, announced with great fanfare at the cost of major financial maneuvers, had a relative impact. Still uneven in their game despite a good start in La Liga, the Blaugranas stop at the same stage as last year in C1. The club, systematically qualified for the eighth between 2004 and 2021, had not chained two eliminations in a group since 1999.
2 – #FCBarcelona has been eliminated from UEFA Champions League #UCL group stage in back-to-back seasons, something that had not happened since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 camps under Louis Van Gaal. Disappointment. pic.twitter.com/GkcqNp2Ncq
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 26, 2022
We could find a thousand excuses for Barça and argue, like coach Xavi, that he “deserved a little better”. Not varnished in the draw – in the pool of Bayern and Inter – and by certain arbitration decisions, the Catalans have stumbled in each of their four games against the other two headliners of the group. Their only victory against Viktoria Plzen cannot be enough. “VS’is based on disillusions that we grow up, and today, it was a real disillusion”tried to philosophize Xavi after the rout against the Bavarians on Wednesday night.
But by dint of multiplying European humiliations (2-8 against Bayern in 2020, 1-4 against PSG in 2021 then two group eliminations), Barça tends to trivialize them. To the point that more people are offended by this umpteenth exit from the road. “There are a lot of recruits, we don’t know each other yetexplained the young Spanish midfielder Pedri on Wednesday. But we have to improve a lot of things, we are not at the level to compete in the Champions League.” Revival will wait.
Juventus, behind the scenes before the pitch
After three eliminations in a row in the round of 16, seeing Juventus stop in the group stage responds to a certain logic. Entangled in a restrictive game and without ideas, the Turinese have never weighed in group H. Dominated by PSG (1-2) and Benfica (1-2, 3-4) in greater proportions than the scores do lead us to think, they hit rock bottom by losing in Haifa (0-2). This elimination in pool – a first since 2013 – is however “not a failure” for coach Massimiliano Allegri.
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But even pitiful eighth in Serie A, and castigated by some tifosi, Allegri is not worried. President Andrea Agnelli still holds him in high esteem and his contract until 2025 protects him. Pioneer of the Superleague, Agnelli is in any case obsessed with economic income more than with sport. Except that Juve, once presented as a low-cost recruitment model in the early 2010s, is now investing at the top of its lungs without any real guidelines.
Proof of an aging workforce, executives Leonardo Bonucci or Juan Cuadrado, holders in Lisbon on Tuesday, are no longer at the level. A slew of players (including Paul Pogba, Angel Di Maria or Federico Chiesa) are certainly injured, but the account is gone. Symbol of its downgrading, Juve will engage in a remote match with Maccabi … for a place in C3.
Atlético unhappy, but…
“Cruel, impossible”. The words of brand to describe the fate of Atlético are up to the comedy of the situation. Against Leverkusen on Wednesday (2-2), the Colchoneros missed a penalty then hit the crossbar in the dying seconds of added time. The people of Madrid would however be wrong to take refuge behind this bad luck. Over the whole of the competition, this exit from the track is logical, with five points and four goals scored in a weak Pool B (Porto, Bruges and Leverkusen). It highlights the deeper ills of a club braced to its coach Diego Simeone.
[ RÉSUMÉ VIDÉO] #AtletiB04
What disappointment for the Colchoneros! Atlético Madrid concedes a draw against Leverkusen and leaves the competition (2-2)!
Moussa Diaby opened the scoring with a splendid curling shot for the Germans!https://t.co/PHmvQxQKlE— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) October 26, 2022
Also “protected” by an XXL contract until 2024, the “Cholo” is nonetheless heckled. Although he promised to “keep insisting” in C1, the Argentinian in office for eleven years may be coming to an end. The chronic inefficiency of his team with a purring game (sixth in the number of shots on target but 26th in C1’s attack) despite a large squad led to his loss. His management of a few players, including the jewel João Félix often confined to the bench, questions. And on arrival, Simeone’s Atlético is not even sure of playing the Europa League in the spring.