BARCELONA crashed OUT of the Champions League at the group stage for the second season in a row… before they could even play their fifth group game against Bayern Munich.
The players discovered their fate as they warmed up for their match at the Nou Camp.
And their early exit plunges the skint Spanish club into a further £18million black hole.
Inter Milan beat Viktoria Plzen in the early Group C game 4-0, taking their points tally to ten with one game left, with Barcelona on four points.
However, Inter’s head-to-head record against Barca meant they were certain to finish about their Catalan rivals even if they clawed back the six-point deficit.
In any case it didn’t matter – as Barcelona got thumped 3-0 by Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp.
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It means crisis-club Barca will drop down into the Europa League where they will 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.
Barca’s debt stands at around £1billion and yet the club managed to spend £150m on transfer fees this summer – by selling off various parts of the club including image rights such as the stadium name to Spotify.
Their budget for this season was based upon reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
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Barca boss Xavi said the team would be watching Inter’s game with Plzen, hoping the Polish side could hand them a shock lifeline.
The ex-Spain midfield maestro said: “We’ll all watch the game together in the locker room.
“The goal tomorrow is to play a good game and have good feelings, regardless of what happens in Milan.
“We have to show that we can compete with this type of teams.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
