Bayern Munich have knocked out FC Barcelona from the 2021-2022 UEFA Champions League campaign with a 3-0 defeat in Germany on Wednesday, December 8, 2021.
Barca visited Germany with the hope that they could beat the German Bundesliga reigning champions to stand a chance of qualifying for the next round of the competition.
Unfortunately for the Spanish giants, Bayern Munich coach, Julian Nagelsmann decided to field his strongest possible team even though the match was inconsequential to the German team since they have already booked a place in the next round.
Hence, Bayern Munich had no problem in dealing with Barcelona that have been struggling to win games since the commencement of this season. In the 34th minute, Thomas Muller gave Bayern the lead. Before the end of the first half, Leroy Sane doubled Bayern’s lead in the 43rd minute.
While in the second half, FC Barcelona tried to fight back to see if they could turn the game around but were not able to do much. In the midst of that, Jamal Musiala made it 3-0 in the 62nd minute.
Bayern’s 3-0 win over FC Barcelona pushed the Spanish side down to the third spot in Group E with 7 points in 6 games. While Benfica moved to the second spot with 8 points in 6 games after beating bottom-placed Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday night.
Based on this, FC Barcelona have been relegated to the Europa League while Bayern Munich and runner-up, Benfica are through to the next round of the UEFA Champions League.
It might interest you to know that this is the first time since the 2000-2001 season that Barcelona did not qualify for the next round of the competition.
Also, the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich on Wednesday was the third consecutive defeat the German Bundesliga giants have inflicted on the Spanish La Liga giants.
Recall that in the last three games between Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona, the German side recorded 8-2, 0-3, and 3-0 victories over the Spanish side.
After the defeat on Wednesday, the coach of Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez admitted that the German Bundesliga giants dominated his team.
“Bayern dominated us,” he said. “We always want to dominate but it was the opposite here. We must demand more. We’re Barca. This must be a point of inflection to change the dynamic and many more things.
“This is the Champions League, but this is also our reality. It’s the situation we’re in. I’m angry. This is the reality and it pisses me off. We have to tackle it face-on. There’s nothing else for it.
“A new era starts today. We start from zero. Our objective is the Champions League, not the Europa League but that is our reality now and we have to try and win it.”
Now that Bayern Munich have sent FC Barcelona to the Europa League, should Xavi Hernandez be sacked?
Xavi Hernandez was appointed as the coach of FC Barcelona in November 2021 after the club sacked Ronald Koeman due to a poor run of games.
The former Barcelona midfielder joined Barca when the club was already struggling in the Champions League and La Liga. Due to his antecedent at Al Sadd, a Qatari club he coached between 2019 and 2021, most supporters of Barcelona thought he could improve the fortunes of the club.
In the 7 games in all competitions that Xavi has been in charge, the Spanish tactician managed to win three out of them, lost two, and drew two.
The most questionable aspect of his time at the club so far was his inability to qualify Barca for the next round of the Champions League. If he had ensured that Barca beat Benfica instead of drawing with them on November 23, Barca would have qualified ahead of Benfica despite losing to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
At this junction, is the fact that Barcelona will play the rest of the season in the Europa League not enough for Xavi to be sacked, or is it too early for such a decision?
