MUNICH, Dec 9: Barcelona will not play in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time in 18 years after a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Wednesday ensured the Catalan club was eliminated from European soccer’s premier competition.
Barcelona drops into the Europa League playoffs after finishing third in Group E, thanks to Benfica’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the other game of the evening.
That ended a Barcelona campaign which would have been unthinkable in the club’s heyday with Lionel Messi up front and Pep Guardiola as coach from 2008 through 2012.
“We start a new era, from zero, from here, to work hard and to recover Barca and to put Barca in the place that we deserve, that is in the top of the Champions League,” coach Xavi Hernández told broadcaster DAZN. “This is our reality. We are out of Champions League, we are in Europa League, but this is not the place of Barcelona.”
The five-time European champion last failed to make the Champions League last 16 in 2003-04.
Defeat in the snow in Munich will deepen Barcelona’s already overwhelming financial problems as it misses out on lucrative prize money and exposure for sponsors. Sitting seventh in La Liga means Barcelona may not even qualify for next year’s competition.
Unlike the hammer blow of Barcelona’s 8-2 loss to Bayern in August 2020, this time the German champions calmly took their time dismantling a Barcelona team which only registered two shots on target.
The first goal Barcelona conceded Wednesday was one of fine margins, with goal-line technology required to show Thomas Müller’s looping header had crossed the line before Ronald Araujo belatedly attempted to clear.
The second was a simple goalkeeping error as Marc-André ter Stegen let Leroy Sané’s speculative long-range shot bounce off his arm and in. That left Xavi’s team 2-0 down at halftime and needing either its own stunning comeback or a similar feat from last-place Dynamo against Benfica.
The deficit worsened in the 62nd minute when Alphonso Davies, the Canadian left-back whose pace had caused problems all game, cut the ball back from the touchline for Jamal Musiala, who applied a simple finish from within a crowd of Barcelona players.
Benfica vs Dynamo Kyiv
Benfica played its part, and that proved enough to secure a return to the knockout stages of the Champions League after four seasons.
Benfica beat already-eliminated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 on Wednesday, and got some vital help from already-qualified Bayern Munich, which defeated Barcelona 3-0. The combination of results saw Benfica finish second in Group E and advance for the first time since 2016-17.
Roman Yaremchuk and Gilberto scored first-half goals to give Benfica eight points, one more than Barcelona.
Benfica entered the last round trailing Barcelona by two points but had the head-to-head advantage after beating the Catalan club 3-0 at home and securing a scoreless draw at the Camp Nou Stadium.
Benfica, which began this campaign in the third qualifying round, failed to reach the knockout stages in 10 of its last 15 group-stage appearances. Dynamo has won only twice in its last 15 European games on the road. (AP)
