Spanish giants, Barcelona FC suffered a huge defeat on Wednesday evening as Bayern Munich gave a spectacular performance that crashed its opponent out of the champions league race.
The club’s 17-year streak of advancing to the Champions League knockout rounds each season ended with an exit from the group stage that failed to finish on time because of snow in Italy.
Barcelona clear-cut to a 3-0 loss on Wednesday at Bayern Munich that dumped the five-time European champion into a dismal and deserved third place in Group E.
“We start a new era, from zero, from here,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez, who rejoined a club in crisis last month, told broadcaster DAZN.
Bayern’s perfect six straight wins started with a 3-0 win at Camp Nou in September, and a repeat result at home let Benfica rise above Barcelona—and into the round-of-16 draw on Monday—by beating Dynamo Kyiv 2-0.
A grim evening for Spanish sides saw Sevilla join Barcelona in being eliminated, failing to advance from the wide-open Group G where all four teams kicked off in contention.
The decline also extends at home and to the club’s finances. A current seventh place in La Liga is outside the European qualification spots and years of big spending on wages mean there is no quick fix for the prodigal son who returned last month to coach the club.
“We need to work hard, many things that put Barcelona in this situation. But this is our reality. I cannot say anything else,” Xavi said.
Meanwhile, Bayern won its group with a 22-goal tally that was more than twice as many as the other three teams combined.
See full Wednesday 08th/12/2021 results below:
Juventus 1 – 0 Malmo FF
Zenith St. Petersburg 3 – 3 Chelsea
Bayern Munich 3 – 0 Barcelona
Benfica 2 – 0 Dynamo Kiev
Manchester United 1 – 1 BSC Young Boys Bern
Red Bull Salzburg 1 – 0 Sevilla
Wolfsburg 1 – 3 Lille
