December 09, (THEWILL) – After a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, Barcelona will resume their European campaign in the Europa League next year.
It is the first time they have failed to progress past the group stage in 20 years, encapsulating their long-standing problems against a Bayern side with considerably higher aspirations ahead of the spring season.
The Blaugrana got out to a flying start, finding Ousmane Dembele early on to put pressure on the defense of their hosts, while Bayern took their time getting into the game.
However, the mountain facing La Blaugrana and the distance they had to climb became even more insurmountable when news broke of Benfica’s quickfire double against Dynamo Kyiv at home on their way to a critical victory.
Before Bayern took the lead on 34 minutes, Jordi Alba’s hamstring injury added to the misery. Dembele had skied over the bar early in the half, and a Thomas Muller header made him and Barca pay. Muller skillfully met Robert Lewandowski’s cross, and the ball crossed the line before Ronald Araujo had a chance to clear.
Leroy Sane added a second from distance with two minutes remaining in the first half, despite Marc-Andre ter Stegen getting a hand on it. It was not the result the visitors could have hoped to go into the interval with but they had not taken the chances they created and could not afford to do that against Bayern.
The Bavarian giants could easily have made it 3-0 seconds after the break if they had not needed to shift out of second gear all night. Davies sent in a rasping cross for Coman, who laid the ball on a plate for Sane, but the striker could only scuff his effort into ter Stegen’s arms.
The third goal finally came two minutes after the hour mark. Davies, who had been a constant thorn in Araujo’s side, moved to the byline and found Jamal Musiala, who finished nicely from close range.
Late on, Bayern had chances to pile more misery on the Catalans, but Sane missed once more, shooting over the bar while bearing down on a defenceless ter Stegen’s goal.
Overall, Barcelona’s stint at Europe’s top competition came to an end with barely a whimper, which was not more than close followers of the gradual devolution of the club could have predicted especially as the club handles the pangs of the post-Lionel Messi era and the start of the Xavi Hernandez project.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
