Barcelona did not get the consolation!
Before Robert Lewandowski-Ousmane Dembele arrived at the Camp Nou, news came from the San Siro that the apocalypse was about to happen! Inter Milan's win over Viktoria Plzen eliminated Barcelona from the Champions League group stage. Xavi Hernandez's side had a chance to take the 'consolation' victory by using this grief as strength.
Barca will play their last match in the group against Plzen. Before that today's opponent Bayern Munich, with this match, Barca had the chance to win against a big team at least in the group. That didn't happen either. The five-time Champions League champions will be Bayern-frightened by their relegation to the Europa League, having lost again.
Bayern Munich confirmed the last sixteen as the top team of 'C' group after beating Barcelona 3-0 at Camp Nou. The German club has won 5 matches and collected 15 points. Inter Milan, who picked up 10 points from the draw, confirmed the last sixteen as runners-up. Barca, who could only beat Plzen in 5 matches, secured third place in the Europa League with 4 points. Plzen at the bottom has no points.
Barca's sixth straight defeat against Bayern in the Champions League is a statistic worth mentioning. Barca couldn't get a shot on Bayern's goal post in the first half. This is the second time in the last 15 years that Barca have seen such an event at home in the Champions League. When was the first time? Last season, against Bayern!
It didn't take long for the fear to become more apparent today. 10 minutes into the match, Sadio Mane started running from the left side to catch Serge Nabri's curved pass from the right side. Marking him, Barca defender Hector Beyrin doesn't start running early, which means he is offside. Manner made no mistake in taking advantage of Bayern's mistake and eluding Barca goalkeeper ter-Stegen. Bayern lead 1-0.
Nabri was also the source of Bayern's second goal in the 31st minute. Now seeing his defenders running, Chupo-Moting entered the box from the right side. The Cameroon forward scored with a cool finish from Nabri's pass.
Barca defenders cleared the ball from the goal line in the 43rd minute. Quality chips are returned from the goal line. Ter-Stegen then blocked two shots from close range by Jamal Musayla. Bayern were unlucky not to score after three tries. In the next minute, Lewandowski scored a penalty in Bayern's box. But it can be seen in VAR, Bayern's Matthias de Liet did not foul, but scored earlier. The penalty is waived. It was impossible to look at Leva's dejected face.
The Polish striker got a chance to score after the break against his former club. Wasted opportunity. Substitutes Ansu Fati and Pedro also had chances to score. But no one found Bayern's net. Pavard's goal in the 5th minute of added time added to Barca's woes. Joshua scored from Kimmich's cross. Earlier in the 55th minute, Nabri had a goal disallowed for offside. Otherwise, Bayern could have won by more goals.
Inter sent Barcelona to the last sixteen
Inter could have gone ahead in 25 minutes of the match. Plzen goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek made a pair of saves at this time. First Mkhitaryan's shot, then Federico's header was incredibly blocked by Stanek. Mkhitaryan scored after 10 minutes from Alessandro Bastoni's cross.
Plzen, winless this season in the Champions League, had chances to score in the first half but could not capitalize. Bosnian striker Dzeko scored a simple shot from inside the box after DiMarco's pass 3 minutes before the end of the first half. After the break, Dzeko scored a double from Lautaro Martinez's cross inside the box.
Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Ajax out
Juventus out from UCL knockout with 3 points with 1 match left. They only won against M. Haifa. In the next match, they will host PSG at the Allianz Stadium.
