With summaryFC Barcelona has again been unable to cope with Bayern Munich. Xavi’s players were told before the game (thanks to Inter’s 4-0 win) that they would play in the Europa League again after the winter break and that didn’t seem to motivate the players any more. Bayern Munich, which was already certain of a place in the second round of the Champions League, won 0-3.
Sports editor
Latest update:
02:11
Barca saw Inter win 4-0 against Viktoria Plzen earlier in the evening, meaning the team of Denzel Dumfries and Stefan de Vrij will continue to play in the Champions League after the World Cup. And so the wonderful poster in Camp Nou tonight was one for the honor and the bounty. Bayern, in recent years already a teasing spirit of the Catalans, seemed a lot more interested in that.
Sadio Mané soon opened the score for Bayern, after which Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting took care of the 0-2 before the break. Just before the break, Barcelona seemed to have a chance to do something back when the referee saw a penalty kick in a duel between Robert Lewandowksi and Matthijs de Ligt. However, the VAR intervened, showed the images to the arbitrator and he reversed his decision.
After the break, Serge Gnabry thought to take care of the third German goal, but again the VAR intervened. Offside and therefore not 0-3. It came in stoppage time. Benjamin Pavard tapped in from close range after a corner and thus ensured the final chord. Bayern have won all of their last six games against Barcelona and did so quite convincingly, with a 22-4 aggregate goal difference.
Louis van Gaal
Just like last year, Barcelona’s Champions League campaign will come to an end after the group stage. The last time that happened twice in a row was at the end of the last century, when Louis van Gaal was in charge at Camp Nou.
After Sevilla and Atlético Madrid, Barcelona is the third Spanish club to fail in the group stage of the Champions League. Real Madrid will advance to the eighth finals to be played in February and March 2023. The last time Spain had only one club in the knockout stages of the Champions League was in 2004.
Dumfries continues with Inter
Inter managed to qualify for the eighth finals earlier in the evening. The team of Denzel Dumfries (base) and Stefan de Vrij (bench) won 4-0 at home against Viktoria Plzen and referred FC Barcelona to the Europa League.
Inter chose the attack right from the kick-off and immediately made it clear to the visitors that there was nothing to be gained. It took a while before the Italians opened the score, but the match was decided before half-time. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Eden Dzeko signed for the goals. The Bosnian striker also signed for the 3-0 in the second half and made his eleventh (!) European goal against Viktoria Plzen.
There was also something to cheer about for the Inter fans in the final phase. First when Romelu Lukaku came in again after two months of injury. Then when the Belgian shot in the 4-0. It was the Czechs’ 20th goal in five games.
View all of tonight’s goals here.
Check out tonight’s results below:
Champions League program
Champions League standings
Champions League stats
Watch all our Champions League videos here.
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