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Barcelona took on Bayern Munich in a must-win Champions League group game on Wednesday night. However, the Catalans lost 3-0 loss to a ruthless Bayern Munich side. It resulted in Barcelona's exit from the Champions League group stages.
Group E winners Bayern Munich handed Barcelona a heavy defeat on the night. In the other group game. Benfica beat Dynamo Kyiv to qualify ahead of Barcelona for the knockouts. Barcelona's third-place finish means they will now participate in the Europa League knockouts next year.
This is the first time the Catalan giants have failed to get past the group stages of the Champions League since 2000/01. Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez was understandably angry with the team.
In a frustrating post-match interview, he blasted the team's performance while calling their Europa League spot their 'new reality’. Bayern Munich’s Thomas Muller scored against Barcelona once again and shared his thoughts about the Catalan giants after the game.
Muller told DAZN after Wednesday’s game:
"I think Barça can't cope with the intensity. Technically, they have it all, they are great players tactically and technically. But they can't cope with the intensity in top football."
Barcelona had a very poor Champions League campaign this year. They scored just twice in their six games, while conceding nine goals in total. Barcelona also failed to score against both Bayern Munich and Benfica, making their current standing in the tournament more than deserved.
Barcelona will try to win the Europa League this season
Bayern Munich have been Barcelona’s kryptonite in this tournament for quite some time now. Barcelona's humiliating 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich last year in the Champions League quarterfinals was a horror night for the Catalan club. Bayern have dominated the Spanish club this season as well and scored six goals in their two group stage games against Barcelona.
Thomas Muller, who has scored eight times in seven games against Barcelona, opened the scoring again on Wednesday.
Barcelona had a poor showing against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their group stage encounters as well. They failed to register a single shot on target during the 3-0 defeat against the Bavarian giants. Bayern added another three goals last night to reflect that not much has changed under Xavi yet.
Barcelona’s defeat sent them crashing out of the Champions League and they will now try their hand at the Europa League competition instead. Barcelona will hope to improve upon their performances and try to win the Europa League this season. Given Barcelona’s quality, they can win this tournament if they can better their current performances.
