Barcelona OUT of the Champions League! Blaugrana eliminated without kicking a ball as Inter beat Plzen
- Barca stuck in third place after Inter win
- Catalans drop into Europa League
- Upset financially devastating for Barca
WHAT HAPPENED? An Edin Dzeko double and goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelu Lukaku saw Inter beat the Czech team 4-0 in the early kick-off on Wednesday, giving them 10 points from five matches, while Barca sit six points behind them in third place before their meeting with Group C leaders Bayern.
THE BIGGER PICTURE: The relegation to the Europa League is a devastating financial blow to the Camp Nou side. Barca were forced to sell off assets over the course of the summer to fund their spending spree in the window, bringing in the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde in big-money deals. But without Champions League windfall, the club's expected earnings for this year will plummet and that may cause serious problems for Xavi's team.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
DID YOU KNOW? Heading into Wednesday's match against Bayern, Barca had lost nine of their 12 Champions League clashes with the German giants. The only team to have lost more against a single opponent is Bayern, who have lost 10 times to Real Madrid.
THE VERDICT:
Scary times at Camp Nou!The result will be brutal for BarcaThe Europa League is back to haunt Barcelona 😱 pic.twitter.com/KuRfZ6LMuS
— GOAL (@goal) October 26, 2022
Barcelona's failure to get out of their Champions League group for the second season running is a huge sporting failure after summer investment, but also wanted to look at the financial side of what it means...
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) October 26, 2022
One famous spectator sees the bright sideBarcelona going out of the Champions League at the group stages. A potentially catastrophic financial blow to an already very, very delicate economic situation.
— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) October 26, 2022
Maybe Barca should make light of the upsetGood thing the Inter game is not close, so I can focus on chess and Barcelona on the Europa League
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) October 26, 2022
WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA? After the midweek disappointment, Barca will turn their attention back to La Liga as they welcome Valencia to Camp Nou on Saturday.