As expected, Barcelona were unable to pull off a shock in Germany and were destroyed by Bayern Munich again, which resulted in an early Champions League exit for them. For the first time in more than a decade, Barca will have to settle withEuropa League soccer.
While the Bundesliga giants put three past Barca at the Allianz Arena, Benfica‘s home victory against Dynamo Kyiv saw them overtake El Blaugrana in the Group E standings, which produced Barcelona’sfirst Champions League group stage eliminationsince the 2000-01 season.
Shocking as it may sound, thesoccer community saw it coming from day one, when Barca were humilliated by Bayern at Camp Nou before Benfica handed them another 3-0 loss in Portugal. History repeated itself on Matchday 6, when the Bavarians confirmed their relegation to the continent’s second tournament. To make things worse,Thomas Muller didn’t mince his words towards the Catalans.
Bayern’s Thomas Muller blasts Barcelona afterChampions League frustration
It’s not only the fact that Barcelona are out of the Champions League before the knockout stages, it’s the way in which they were eliminated so early. In both games against Bayern, Barca’s weaknesses werebrutally exposed byone of the continent’s most powerful sides. While the Germans played like true contenders, Barcelonagave the impression they’re not up to these kinds of games.
Players don’t often make this kind of comments, though, to respect their rivals regardless of how much they struggle. But Thomas Muller didn’t carespeaking his mind, taking a huge shot at Barcelona after another comfortable win for Bayern.
“We really tried to get the intensity into the game because I think we’re really massively different to Barcelona, at least in their current state, because of that intensity,“ Muller told UEFA.com following his team’s victory.
“I don’t think they can cope with that intensity. Technically they have it all and they have some really good players, there’s no question about that, but we can deliver this intensity both in possession and out of possession. I don’t think they can cope with the intensity in top-level football.
“I think the difference was certainly very clear, especially in the second half,” Muller continued. “We should have scored more goals, but we’re happy. Barcelona are still a big name in the football world, so to beat them 3-0 twice — in Barcelona and again at home — is still satisfying.”
To be fair, we can’t say that Muller is lying. What he said it’s probably what the entire world soccer believes right now. Then again, players don’t usually say these things about other teams, so his words have obviously made noise despite how many peoplemay agree with him.