We never thought that this day would come where Barcelona were unceremoniously dumped out of the Champions League this early, yet here we are courtesy of Bayern Munich.
With this defeat along with Benfica’s victory over Dynamo Kiev at the same night, the Blaugrana have been knocked out from the Champions League group stage for the fourth time ever, the first one since 2000/01 when they played in the UEFA Cup.
Meanwhile, Lille and RB Salzburg finally confirmed their berths after a whirlwind tour in Group G while Juventus and Chelsea wrapped up their campaigns with a win and draw versus Malmo and Zenit respectively.
In Group F, the crucial game between Atalanta and Villarreal was rescheduled for later due to the Arctic conditions in Bergamo. Nonetheless, it will be another fun encounter since the final knockout stages berth is involved.
In case you missed it, my SBOTOP colleague had his takeaways of what happened in the previous matchday. Along with that, continue to read on below as today we’ll review yesterday’s set of Champions League 2021 results.
Bayern Munich send Barcelona to the Europa League
It’s been a rough few years for Barcelona and last night’s debacle adds on to their list of shortcomings in Europe’s biggest stage.
Coming into this game, Barcelona’s Champions League 2021 odds of advancing to the knockouts didn’t offer much hope since they were facing a tall task at the Allianz Arena.
Given their subpar start to their group stage campaign, the Blaugrana had to win against Group E leaders Bayern Munich and they needed Benfica to lose in their match against bottom feeders Dynamo Kiev.
Barca struggled early on and then they lost Jordi Alba to injury, which opened the floodgates for the Bavarians.
Thomas Muller punched in the first goal at the 34th minute after some superb work by Robert Lewandowski, and then it was followed up by a beautiful strike by Leroy Sane to put the hosts up by two goals before the half-time break.
Jamal Musiala put the nail in the coffin at the 62nd minute by converting an Alphonso Davies cross, and that was all she wrote.
Barcelona’s loss was Benfica’s gain especially after they defeated Dynamo Kiev with a 2-0 scoreline as goals from Roman Yaremchuk and Gilberto came within the first half.
It was a deserved victory for the Portuguese giants, who are going to move on to the knockout phase for the first time since 2017.
Lille and RB Salzburg complete Group G cast
Reigning Ligue 1 champions Lille started and ended on top of their group after beating VfL Wolfsburg. They only finished with a one-point lead over RB Salzburg, though, who defeated Sevilla in a close battle.
Lille had a brisk start when Burak Yilmaz completed a successful counter attack to put them ahead. Eventually, they put the game beyond doubt with late scores from Jonathan David and Angel Gomes while Renato Steffen added a consolation goal for the Wolves.
Meanwhile, RB Salzburg became the first Austrian side to reach the knockout phase of the Champions League since 1991 thanks to Noah Okafor’s conversion at the 50th minute following a sumptuous cross from Karim Adeyemi.
Sevilla were left to rue on their missed opportunities and they’ll join fellow La Liga side Barcelona to the Europa League – a stage where they’ve won more times than any other club.
Final spot up for grabs between Atalanta and Villarreal
Unai Emery’s men aren’t in their best form since they’ve lost their previous two league matches. On the other hand, La Dea have caught fire in Serie A, winning five consecutive league fixtures.
Their previous meeting ended in a 2-2 draw as Robin Gosens bailed out Atalanta and Villarreal were reduced to 10 men.
This game between Atalanta and Villarreal will determine who gets the final knockout spot. As of this writing, Villarreal hold the slender one-point advantage over Atalanta.
Juventus secure top spot in Group H
Juventus and Chelsea had different outcomes despite having their knockout spots already secured. The Bianconeri had a narrow win vs. Malmo while Chelsea were held to a draw by Zenit.
The Blues looked like they were on their way to secure the top spot in Group H, but their hopes were dashed by Magomed Ozdoyev’s late equaliser.
As for Juve, Moise Kean rose to the occasion by nodding home a beautiful cross from Federico Bernardeschi during the 18th minute.
Max Allegri’s side did just enough to win, and they’ll take it since wins have been hard to come by for them lately.
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