Barcelona have been knocked out of the 2021/2022 UEFA Champions League following a 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
A win was what the Catalan giant needed to advance to the next round of the Champions league, but they failed to beat the Bavarian giant and are going to be playing in the UEFA Europa League for the first time in 17 years.
Meanwhile, Portuguese side Benfica got the better of bottom placed Dynamo Kyiv with a comfortable 2-0 win to secure the second place in the group. Benfica’s win stamps Barcelona’s elimination from the group stage.
Earlier before the game, Barcelona’s head coach, Xavi Hernandez, said the team can beat anyone and it won’t be a miracle, and the game started with high level of intensity from both sides but they couldn’t stop Bayern from taking the lead in the 34th minutes through Thomas Muller’s header from a Robert Lewandowski’s chip cross.
The hosts added the second goal of the day courtesy of a beautiful strike from Leroy Sane two minutes before halftime. Bayern put the game to bed as Jamal Musiala was on hand to stuck the ball in the back of the net after a good run from Alphonse Davies down the left wing.
The win means Bayern are group winner, and have been unbeaten in the group stages for the fourth time in a row but this time, they secured maximum points from all the six games with Ajax and Liverpool as the other two sides with a 100% win.
The last time the Blaugrana were eliminated in Champions League was the 2000/2001 season after they finished third behind Leeds United and then group winners, AC Milan. The draw will take place on Monday.