Barcelona were been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, even before they face Bayern Munich on Wednesday night at the Spotify Camp Nou.
The Spanish powerhouse who had only one win and a draw(Four points) after four matches in Group C prior to Wednesday night’s clash needed Inter to lose or draw against bottom-placed Viktoria Plzen.
Barca won their opening game against Plzeñ, 5-1, but lost their next two games to Bayern Munich (2-0) and Inter Milan (1-0); they also drew Inter in the fixture following, where they played 3-3; giving them 2nd place in Group C.
However, goals from Edin Dzeko(brace), Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Romelo Lukaku cemented the Serie giants in the second spot, taking their points tally to ten with one game left.
UK Sun reported that Inter’s head-to-head record against Barca will see them finish above their Catalan rivals even if they claw back the six-point deficit.
That means that crisis-hit Barca will drop down into the Europa League where they would face a group runner-up in the preliminary knockout round.
It also means back-to-back Champions League group-stage exits for Barca, having only done so once before – way back in 1998-99.
Inter’s win sealed Barca’s fate before they meet the German champions in the late kickoff and the outcome of the match will have no effect on the Spanish giant’s already sealed demotion to the Europa League.
Bayern and Inter join the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea who already booked their respective places in the knockout stage of the UCL as the quest for a final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey, continues.
