Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 3-0 at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night to advance to the Champions League round of 16 as group winners.
Xavi Hernandez’s side went into the match knowing they already had no chance of reaching the knockout round for the second year in a row after Internazionale beat Viktoria Plzen 4-0 in the early window on Monday.
First-half goals from Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and stoppage-time header from Benjamin Pavard saw Bayern clinch top spot in Group C on 15 points with one game to play, while Inter Milan finish second. Barcelona, who will finish third regardless of results on the final matchday, are headed for the Europa League.
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Wednesday’s results are another setback for the Catalan club and could prove costlier than last season as the team went on a spending spree in the summer to boost their squad in the hope of recovering some of that money with a deep run in European competition.
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Rapid reaction
1. Barcelona play flat after Champions League exit sealed
With Inter Milan’s win over Viktoria Plzen earlier on Wednesday, Barcelona knew their Champions League hopes were over for another season and they played like a team in mourning at times against Bayern. Despite Xavi Hernandez’s insistence ahead of the game that this was a chance to show Barca can compete on the biggest stage, they once again failed to deliver against one of Europe’s best, as was the case in the recent Clasico defeat to Real Madrid.
Barca will and already have bemoaned missed chances in Munich, refereeing decisions in Milan and individual errors in the 3-3 draw against Inter, but the fact of the matter is they have not been good enough across their five matches in the Champions League season. That they have just four points is a reflection of that.
You cannot defend as they did against Bayern. The ease with which Sadio Mane and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting found the net will have angered Xavi. It felt as if Bayern could have gone up a few more gears, too. Only a last-ditch block from Hector Bellerin and a fine save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen kept out a third before the break. Serge Gnabry, the creator of all three goals, had another ruled out for offside before an unmarked Benjamin Pavard added the third from a stoppage-time set-play.
Barca, meanwhile, for all their passing, huffing and puffing, never really tested Bayern’s stand-in goalkeeper Sven Ulreich. The closest they came to a goal was an overturned penalty for a Matthijs de Ligt challenge on Robert Lewandowski, who was once again forced to endure a painful night against the side he left for €45 million in the summer.
