As many as three La Ligateams —Sevilla, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid —have been ousted from the Group Stage of the UEFA Champions League, dealing a severe blow to Spanish soccer.On Wednesday, Bayern defeated Barcelona by a lopsided margin.
This is the second consecutive year that the Blaugranahave been eliminated in theChampions League’s opening round. The Catalan giants’ destiny was determined following Inter’s earlier win over Viktoria Plzen, and they collapsed to a 3-0 loss to the reigning Bundesliga winners in front of their home fans.
It was all but over by halftime as Sadio Mane and Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting gave the visitors a two-goal advantage.To add some intrigue, Barcelona haven’t been eliminated from the Group Stage of thehighest European club tournament two times in a rowsince the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
Thestats that suggest Barcelona are still Lionel Messi-dependent
This unfortunate data, which is nothing short of adownfall forBarcelona, coincides with the departure of the club’s greatest player, Lionel Messi, who swapped Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes in the summer of 2021 as a free agent. It has becomeclear that Xavi Hernandez’ssquad is unlikely tofunction without him, an intriguing revelation given the club’s dependence on him.
Facts and figures demonstrate that the Blaugrana haven’tbeen able to reach the Knockout Stageat all without the Argentine grandmaster. Barcahaveonly failed to go beyond the Group Stage of the Champions Leaguein the previous two decades only when Lionel Messi was not even part of the roster.
In fact, even though the Argentine forward spent 17 years of his professional career with Barcelonawithout ever appearing in the Europa League.Since he left, in the summer of 2021, his former sidehave participated in the tournament annually.
Meanwhile, a 7-2 victory at the Parc des Princes, ensuredMessi’s progression withPSG to the Knockout Round of the Champions League. The 35-year-old forward’s virtuosic performance resulted in two assists and two goals, settinga new recordin the process.
