Barca to start from 'zero'

MUNICH • Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has vowed to return the Spanish giants to the pinnacle of European football after they crashed out of the Champions League on Wednesday following their 3-0 defeat at Group E winners Bayern Munich.

The five-time European champions were eliminated in the group stage for the first time in 21 years as Portugal's Benfica leapfrogged the Catalan giants into second place after a 2-0 home victory over bottom side Dynamo Kiev.

Barca had reached the last 16 in each season since 2003-04, when they did not qualify for the competition at all, but this is probably their weakest team and it showed just why in Munich.

Just like the reverse fixture at the Nou Camp when they were on the receiving end of a 3-0 thumping, Bayern, who finished top with a 100 per recent record after six games, were superior in all departments on the pitch.

Goals by Thomas Muller and Leroy Sane gave the Bavarians a 2-0 half-time cushion in falling snow at the Allianz Arena, which was devoid of spectators due to Covid-19 state restrictions, and Jamal Musiala grabbed a third to seal Barca's fate.

On dropping into the Europa League, Xavi said: "I'm angry. I don't like that this is our reality now. We start a new era from here - to work hard and get back in the Champions League."

It has been almost eight years since Bayern lost a home Champions League game in the group phase and the Bundesliga leaders never had to get out of second gear despite missing starters Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich and Serge Gnabry.

Muller gave Bayern the lead with his 50th goal in the competition when his header looped beyond the reach of Barca goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Sane then bulged the net with a powerful long-range shot before Musiala tapped home from close range.

Such was their ease that Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann could afford to take off his first-choice players like Alphonso Davies, Kingsley Coman and Robert Lewandowski with 20 minutes to go but Barca were still unable to pose any threat.

Xavi, 41, who took charge of struggling Barca early last month, has now suffered back-to-back defeats after his first loss as head coach against Real Betis last weekend - a result that left his team 16 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

The club great knows there is a monumental task ahead of him amid limited resources because of the club's financial predicament.

"We start from scratch. Unfortunately, we are in the Europa League, which is not the place for us," the former Al Sadd boss said.

"We will work hard to put Barcelona back in the right place. We have many things to correct. We need to win the Europa League and recover the points in La Liga. We have had some injuries, maybe we can sign some more players, but we start from zero."

While it is doom and gloom for Barca at the moment, Muller feels the visitors can eventually regain their lustre, even if the transition period takes longer than expected.

"When you look at the team, they are good players, they have everything they need," he said.

"We know things aren't going so well behind the scenes and I had the feeling they couldn't find the intensity they needed, which helped our cause."

The draw for the knockout phase of both the Champions League and Europa League will be made on Monday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE