Barca will not play in the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time after 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena on Wednesday night. And that is the first time Barca have failed to make it past the group stage since 2000, when also finishing the group stage in 3rd place.
Barca’s first goal in the 34th minute exposed the weakness of the defense, when Robert Lewandowski comfortably held the ball in front of Barcelona’s players and passed to Thomas Mueller to score the goal.
Ronald Araujo’s effort to relieve the siege was belated when goal technology (VAR) determined that the ball had passed the goal line.
The second goal was a rudimentary error by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen when he let Leroy Sane’s long shot pass. The situation worsened in the 62nd minute when Alphonso Davies used his speed to escape and then pass back to Jamal Musiala to have a simple finish in the encirclement of the crowd.
Barca’s disappointment has highlighted the great effort of Benfica after 2-0 won against Dinamo Kie. The Portuguese won 4 points against Barca – including a decisive 0-0 draw at Camp Nou in the penultimate match.
Benfica entered the final round when 2 points behind Barca, but had an advantage in head-to-head record.
Roman Yaremchuk and Gilberto scored goals in the 16th and 22nd minutes to help Benfica finish the group stage with 8 points, 1 point more than Barca.
Benfica has won the first time to play in the knockout round of the Champions League since the 2016-2017 season, when they were eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16.
Barcelona has to play in the Europa League after finishing 3rd in Group E. Meanwhile, Bayern maintains a record of winning all 6 matches in the group stage, being the 3rd team besides Liverpool and Ajax to have done it.
