Barcelona are DUMPED OUT of the Champions League without even kicking a ball after Inter Milan’s win over Viktoria Plzen – with Xavi’s men knocked out at the group stage for the second straight year
- Barcelona are out of the Champions League after Inter Milan’s 4-0 win vs Plzen
- Xavi’s men are out for the second straight year – and without kicking a ball
- The LaLiga giants will now focus their efforts on winning the Europa League
- The latest disappointment is sure to heap massive pressure on Barca boss Xavi
Barcelona have been dumped out of the Champions League group stages for the second straight season after Inter Milan thrashed Viktoria Plzen 4-0.
Xavi’s men were eliminated from the competition without even kicking a ball after the Serie A side’s win sealed their fate, with their later kick-off against Bayern Munich now a dead-rubber affair for the Spanish giants.
Barca were relying on something of a miracle to get through to the knockout stages – needing Inter to drop points against a side who had lost all of their games so far in Group C – while also needing to beat Bayern Munich.
Barcelona have been eliminated from the Champions League after Inter Milan’s win over Viktoria Plzn – putting huge pressure on Xavi
Barcelona will be hugely disappointed to bow out after splashing out £150m on players
But their hopes were swiftly dashed as Inter raced into a 2-0 lead at half time – before adding gloss to the scoreline with a thumping win at the San Siro.
A double from Edin Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first-half header and a late Romelu Lukaku strike sealed the home side’s progression into the knockout rounds as Xavi’s Barcelona team watched on from afar.
For Barca, the elimination will come as a huge disappointment and one that will put huge pressure on Xavi’s position – with his side also trailing leaders Real Madrid in the LaLiga table.
The Spanish coach will have to focus his efforts on winning the lesser Europa League, which will be a bitter pill to swallow for the club’s board having splashed out £150m on a series of star names, including Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha.
Inter Milan consigned them to another season in the Europa League – with Henrikh Mkhitaryan (left) scoring their opening goal in their 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen
Barca were third prior to their home clash against Bayern with four points – after one win, one draw and two losses.
Their 3-3 draw against Inter last time out all but sealed their fate – with Inter knowing they had a straight forward task to reach the last 16.
It is the first time since 1999 that the Catalan club failed to advance to the knockout stage in consecutive years, coinciding with the departure of Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago.
Last year, Barcelona endured its worst Champions League campaign in about two decades, finishing behind Bayern and Benfica in its group while going through a dire financial situation in the aftermath of Messi’s departure.
Barcelona are having an up and down season and are trailing LaLiga to rival Real Madrid too
This time, Barcelona didn’t even stay in contention into the final round of the group stage. After opening with a 5-1 win against Plzen at home, Barcelona lost 2-0 at Bayern and 1-0 at Inter.
Barca still draw level with Inter on points, but would lose to the Italians on head-to-head. The home draw with Inter was followed by a 3-1 loss to rival Real Madrid in the first ‘clasico’ of the season in the Spanish league. Barcelona have won nine of its 11 league matches but trails Madrid by three points at the top.
Barcelona will hope to win the Europa League this time around having lost in the quarter-finals of that competition last season to eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt.
