BARCELONA will not play in the knockout rounds of the Champions League for the first time in 18 years after a 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich on Wednesday ensured the Catalan club was eliminated from European soccer’s premier competition.

Elsewhere, Manchester United was held 1-1 by Swiss champions Young Boys as interim boss Ralf Rangnick blooded a host of youngsters in the Champions League.

With United already assured of top spot in Group F, Rangnick rested all of his key players, making 11 changes from the side that beat Crystal Palace in the first game of his reign.

In other games, Chelsea players blew their chance to finish top of Group H as Magomed Ozdoev’s stoppage-time equalizer forced the holders to settle for a dramatic 3-3 draw at Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Thomas Tuchel’s players had already qualified for the last 16 and were hoping to take first place to theoretically secure an easier draw in the knockout stages. Timo Werner had put Chelsea ahead after 84 seconds with his club’s fastest ever Champions League goal.

Barcelona drops into the Europa League playoffs after finishing third in Group E, thanks to Benfica’s 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the other game of the evening.

That ended a Barcelona campaign, which would have been unthinkable in the club’s heyday with Lionel Messi up front and Pep Guardiola as coach from 2008 through 2012. The group stage began with a 3-0 loss to Bayern at the Camp Nou and got worse with a 3-0 defeat and 0-0 draw against Benfica. Barcelona scored only two goals in six games, both against last-place Dynamo, and conceded nine.

“We start a new era, from zero, from here, to work hard and to recover Barca and to put Barca in the place that we deserve, that is in the top of the Champions League,” coach Xavi Hernandez told broadcaster DAZN. “This is our reality. We are out of Champions League, we are in Europa League, but this is not the place of Barcelona.”

The five-time European champion last failed to make the Champions League last 16 in 2003-04. That season, Barcelona missed the Champions League entirely and played in what was then the UEFA Cup, thanks to a poor Spanish league finish the season before.

Defeat in the snow in Munich will deepen Barcelona’s already overwhelming financial problems as it misses out on lucrative prize money and exposure for sponsors. Sitting seventh in La Liga means Barcelona may not even qualify for next year’s competition.

“We need to work hard, many things that put Barcelona in this situation. But this is our reality. I cannot say anything else,” Xavi said. “We need to win Europa League, work hard for recovering points in La Liga, win the cup, win the Super Cup, this is what Barcelona deserve … We will try to work hard. We have many injuries. Maybe we can sign some players now in January. Let’s see.”

Unlike the hammer blow of Barcelona’s 8-2 loss to Bayern in August 2020, this time the German champions calmly took their time dismantling a Barcelona team, which only registered two shots on target.

(SD-Agencies)