Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, has reacted to Barcelona’s Champions League exit after the club’s heavy spending last summer.
Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League after Inter Milan defeated Viktoria Pizen 4-0 at the San Siro.
Despite splashing out a whooping £150million in the transfer window last summer to sign new players, Barcelona have struggled against big teams.
Barcelona opened their 2021/22 Champions League campaign on a brilliant note after thrashing Viktoria Pizen 5-1 at Camp Nou.
Goals from Franck Kessie, Ferran Torres, and a hat-trick from Robert Lewadowski condemned Pizen to a heavy defeat in Spain.
Barcelona were considered as favorite to qualify from the group alongside Bayern Munich.
The tides of hope and optimism began to founder when the team traveled to take on Bayern Munich at Allianz Arena, with Robert Lewadowski returning to his former club for the first time after joining the Catalans.
The Xavi-led team were condemned to a 2-0 defeat by the Bavarians. Goals from Hernandez and Luiz Sane sealed the defeat for the Catalans.
Against Inter Milan, Barcelona still had a chance to turn things around at the San Siro, but faltered after settling for a another consecutive defeat.
Calhanoglu 45+2nd-minute strike was enough to inflict another defeat on the La Liga giants.
Despite suffering the second consecutive defeat in the group, Barcelona’s knockout chances was still within reach.
They needed to win the second-leg against the Serie A giants to boost their chances of making it to the next round.
However, the result at the Camp Nou was a shocker. The Catalans narrowly escaped defeat by settling for a dramatic 3-3 draw.
At this point, qualifying to the next round was highly improbable. They had to bank on Pizen to salvage at least a point against Inter Milan to brighten their chances of qualifying from the group.
Unfortunately, the reverse was the case. Pizen suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in the hands of Inter Milan on Wednesday. The result dealt final blow to FC Barcelona’s knockout hopes.
Barcelona continue to struggle against big rivals
After heavy sums were splashed into the squad last summer, Barcelona showed signs of improvement.
A good preseason run, including a near victory over Manchester City in the Charity Match and near-perfect La Liga results were clear testaments.
However, the team have struggled against big teams. Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and the El-Clasico loss points to the chink in the team’s armour of world-class players.
Even if Inter Milan have lost to Pizen, the Catalans would still not stand a chance as they subsequently lost 3-0 to Bayern Munich at home on Wednesday night.
Joan Laporta reacts after Barca’s Champions League exit
Joan Laporta has reacted to the team’s Champions League exit. Laporta appeared to absolve Xavi of any blame.
He maintained that the team is still undergoing the rebuilding process, and there will be ups and downs in the process.
Laporta appealed for the fans to continue to lend their support as the rebuilding process continues.
“We have to look forward”, he said. “We knew that in this process of rebuilding the team, there would be ups and downs.”
“The message to the fans is let’s look forward. Xavi also made youngsters play so that they can grow.”
Barcelona will play Viktoria Pizen in their last Champions League fixture. It is an inconsequential game as per the tournament as their exit has been confirmed.
As things stand, Xavi may not be under pressure by the management as per the statement credited to Joan Laporta.
However, if the poor performance in critical games continue, the club’s legendary midfielder may risk losing his job.
