Eliminated: Barcelona have exited the Champions League at the group stage for the second year running
(Picture: REUTERS)Barcelona endured a truly wretched night as confirmation of another Champions League group-stage exit was followed by their latest defeat to Bayern Munich.
Xavi’s side went into Wednesday night’s heavyweight Group C clash played amid a frustrated and subdued Camp Nou atmosphere knowing they could no longer hope to reach the last 16 after Inter Milan’s earlier 4-0 victory over Viktoria Plzen in Italy.
It is the second successive year that Barca have exited Europe’s elite club competition at this stage, a potential financial disaster after their summer transfer efforts as they prepare for another unwanted stint in the Europa League in the New Year.
Bayern, meanwhile, are celebrating sealing top spot in a difficult group with a match to spare after inflicting yet more misery on Barca with a sixth consecutive victory over the Blaugrana despite some key injury absentees such as captain Manuel Neuer, Lucas Hernandez and Leroy Sane - the latter pair on target in Bayern’s 2-0 win over Barca in Munich last month.
Sadio Mane, restored to the starting XI by Julian Nagelsmann after being left on the bench for Saturday’s Bundesliga win over Hoffenheim, further worsened the mood in Catalonia after only 10 minutes when he raced onto a superb Serge Gnabry pass and beat Hector Bellerin - starting after Sergi Roberto’s shoulder injury suffered against Athletic Bilbao on Sunday - all too easily before lifting the ball over Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It was far from vintage Bayern in a first half broken up by plenty of niggly fouls, with Barca posing a threat through the pace and trickery of Ousmane Dembele but unable to find any sort of final ball.
They fell 2-0 behind when another perfect Gnabry pass was matched up with a second well-timed run, this time from Eric Maxim Chopou-Moting, who coolly slotted his fourth goal in five games between the legs of Ter Stegen.
An important Bellerin intervention and Ter Stegen save from Jamal Musiala denied Bayern a third before the break, while Robert Lewandowski was awarded a penalty against his former club after a challenge by Matthijs de Ligt, only for English referee Anthony Taylor to change his decision after being advised by VAR Stuart Attwell to consult the pitchside monitor.
Bayern did initially celebrate a stylish third goal after half-time, but the impressive Gnabry had just strayed offside as he collected Joshua Kimmich’s pass before curling an excellent effort into the far corner.
They did eventually make it 3-0 with the last kick of the game, unmarked substitute Benjamin Pavard stroking home a half-volley at the back post to complete a desperately dismal night in Barcelona’s recent history, with the hosts failing to register a single shot on target.
