Bayern Munich were not to be beaten by this Barcelona side as Xavi’s men endured another humbling at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday. A 3-0 loss condemned them to group elimination in the Champion League after Benfica’s win over Dynamo Kiev.
UEFA Europa League playoffs will be played between third placed champions league groups and second placed teams in Europa league group stages. (Photo Credits: Twitter/ UEFA Europa League)
The results means Barcelona finished third in their group and along with other third placed teams in the Champions League groups like Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Sevilla, Zenit St. Petersburg, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Porto and either of Villarreal or Atalanta, who have their clash in Bergamo postponed due to heavy snowfall.
The last time Barcelona played the Europa league was in the 2003-04 season. Since then, they have won four Champions League titles but have now hit their lowest in the competition, after the disappointments in the last couple of seasons.
Actually, these teams are yet to officially qualify for the Europa league, they will first have to play against second placed teams in the competition playoffs to have a chance to join the rest of the teams in the competition.
The round of 32 in the Europa League has been scrapped and the playoff will help to maintain a number of only eight qualifiers to team up with the rest of the eight table toppers and set up a round of 16 stage.
The draw will be made on Monday, 13th December and the playoff games will be a double-header, to be played next year February 17th and 24th.
Author: Afolabi Kehinde Hassan
2 Comments
I just hope we win the playoff and perform better in the UEL. Forca Barca
Interesting to see how it pans out