Once again, Barça fell in the group stage of the Champions League, facing Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Barça lost 3-0 to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds and compete in the Europa League with another traditional European giant, Juventus.
After Messi's departure, Barca have yet to qualify for the Champions League group. When Messi played for Barca, Barca were able to qualify for the Champions League group every season. The season before Messi Barça's debut, Barca also played in the Europa League, which was a long time ago in the 2003-04 season. More than 80% of fans believe Xavi is to blame for Barca's Champions League exit.
Messi is currently in Paris like a fish in the water according to IC photo
Barça lost before they fought a fight
In fact, Barca learned before the game that they had been eliminated, and the team could only play in the Europa League for two consecutive years. As long as Inter win this round, Barca will not qualify for the Champions League, and Inter's opponent in this round is Pilsen, but the team has never won a single Champions League so far, and the end result is an easy 4-0 win for Inter. After learning of the elimination, Barca did not seem to be in the mood to play, and was scored by Mane in the 10th minute, and in the 31st minute, Schupomotin extended the score to 2-0.
Mane scored the Barca goal
After trailing 2-0, Camp Nou fans chanted "Messi! Messi". After Messi left Barca, Barca could not even get out of the Champions League group and were eliminated in the group stage for two consecutive years. Last season, Barca also failed to qualify in the group against Bayern, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv. This summer window, Barça spent a lot of money to sign World Footballer Lewandowski, Rafinha, Conde and other strong reinforcements, activating 5 economic levers, but unfortunately they still failed to qualify for the Champions League group. This is undoubtedly a huge irony for Barca president Laporta.
Looking at Barça's achievements in the Champions League in the past 20 years, it can be summarized as: before Messi came, Barça played in the Europa League; With Messi, Barca have qualified for the Champions League group stage for 17 consecutive years from 2004-05 to 2020-21, including four Champions League titles in 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015. After Messi left, Barca went out of the group stage for two consecutive years to play in the Europa League.
Messi is still resentful of the Barca hierarchy
Barca manager Xavi was once Messi's big brother, and he didn't know the importance of Messi. However, he also has difficulty getting over the fact that the core is not in the team, and Xavi only said after the game that the team must face reality. "We should show the fans the respect they deserve and unfortunately we didn't show that on the pitch. We are out of touch with the Champions League and we have to face reality. According to statistics, Xavi's Champions League record has been unsatisfactory since taking charge of Barca, with a total of only 1 win, 2 draws and 4 defeats in 7 games, including 1 draw and 1 defeat last season. A vote was launched on the Spanish six, in which more than 80% of fans believed Xavi was to blame for Barca's Champions League exit.
Is Xavi to blame for Barca's Champions League exit? Image according to IC photo
Recently, Barca have repeatedly expressed their interest in bringing back Messi, but Messi has not made a decision. Paris also want to renew Messi's contract, but Messi has made it clear that he will not make a decision until the World Cup in Qatar is over.
Barca really broke Messi's heart, he wanted to renew his contract with the club last year, but finally waited for the news that Barca gave him up. Argentine star and Messi's good friend Sergio Aguero recently connected with Spanish Channel Six, saying that the way Messi left Barca was too strange. Because during the Copa America, Messi had a Barça shirt in his room. Messi tells Aguero every three or four days that it looks like he's about to renew his contract, and asks Aguero to take a picture with the Barca shirt at night. But when Sergio Aguero passed, Messi said he had not completed the renewal of his contract with Barca.
For the Ballon d'Or, Laporta had wanted to meet Messi in Paris, but the latter directly refused to meet with the Barca president who expelled him. Messi agreed to return to Barça, but he does not want Laporta to be Barça's president because he feels the Barca president's ruthless betrayal.
Red Star News reporter Hu Minjuan
Editor Ou Peng
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