Barcelona’s bright start to their 2022/23 Champions League campaign could not last as manager Xavi’s first full season in charge produced another early exit from the competition for the five-time winners.
Xavi was part of Barcelona teams responsible for four of those titles and the 42-year-old guided his new-look team to an opening 5-1 win over Czech Viktoria side Viktoria Plzen.
A step up in class against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan proved the downfall of Barca, though, who lost 2-0 in Germany and 1-0 at the San Siro on their way to finishing third in Group C.
Before they even had the chance to kick a ball in match day five against Bayern Munich, Inter Milan’s 4-0 win over Plzen in the early kick-off sealed their fate and relegated them to the Europa League.
Barca’s night got even worse as they fell to a 3-0 defeat to Bayern at Camp Now.
Who’s next for Barcelona? What’s their record like in the Europa League? Here’s what’s in store for the Spanish giants.
How is Europa League round of 16 qualification decided?
The eight teams who finish third in the Champions League group stage are placed in a draw with the clubs who finish second in each of the eight Europa League groups.
The eight runners-up from the Europa League group stage will be seeded in the draw, while their potential rivals from the Champions League group stage will be unseeded.
Clubs from the same association cannot be drawn against each other, which means Barca will not play the likes of Real Sociedad, should they end up in the draw.
Who could Barcelona face in the Europa League?
As of October 27 2022, Barca could play one of the following clubs in the qualification round:
- Arsenal
- PSV Eindhoven
- Fenerbahce
- Rennes
- Ludogorets
- Roma
- Braga
- Union Berlin
- Manchester United
- Sheriff
- Feyenoord
- Lazio
- Midtjylland
- Sturm Graz
- Qarabag
- Nantes
- Ferencvaros
- Trabzonspor
- Monaco
- Crvena zvezda
The current runners-up in the Europa League groups are as follows: PSV, Rennes, Ludogorets, Union Berlin, Manchester United, SK Sturm Graz, Qarabag and Monaco.
Have Barcelona ever won the Europa League?
No. Most recently, they were knocked out by eventual champions Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinals last season.
How many times have Barcelona played in the Europa League?
Barcelona have featured in UEFA’s second tier competition 23 times, including in its previous iterations as the UEFA Cup (1971-2009) and Fairs Cup (1955-1971). It was rebranded to “Europa League” in 2009-10.
In the 2003-04 campaign, Barca were knocked out by Celtic in the round of 16, and they have never made the final, although they have been semifinalists on four occasions and lost by a goal each time.
Barca were beaten by Liverpool in the final four in 1976 and in 2001 and lost to PSV in 1978 and Bayern Munich in 1996. In all four years, the team that they were beaten by ended up lifting the trophy.
How many times have Barcelona been eliminated from the Champions League group stage?
This is the fifth time Barcelona have been ousted before the knockout stage since the Champions League group format was introduced in 1992.
Newcastle, Dynamo Kiev and PSV were their rivals when they suffered the same fate in 1997-98, with Manchester United, Brondby and Bayern making up the rest of the group a season later.
Barcelona were grouped with Leeds, Besiktas and AC Milan when they did not make the latter stages in 2000-01, proving the last time they would not be in the knockout stages for 19 seasons, covering all but the last of all-time record scorer Lionel Messi’s campaigns with the club.
Bayern, Benfica and Dynamo had been part of their Champions League group before they returned to the Europa League last season.
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How much money will Barcelona lose from being in the Europa League compared to the Champions League?
The dizzying variety of factors that decide how much a season in each competition is worth make it impossible to name an exact price — but the financial difference is stark.
How well a club has performed domestically and in Europe in recent years, their share of the TV market, how far they go in each competition and even the number of wins they pick up along the way can all make a huge difference to the final proceeds.
As a snapshot example, financial experts The Swiss Ramble found earlier this year that Scottish club Celtic had earned £92 million ($106m) in TV money alone from four years in the Champions League, compared to just £41m ($47m) from the same stream of income via six years in the Europa League.
In comparison, the Europa League winner in 2022 pocketed $9.73m (£8.38m) and the runner-up $5.2m (£4.48m), while this year’s Champions League winner will net €20m (£17.3m) with the runner up bagging €15.5m (£13.4m).
Then there are other, less measurable financial knock-on effects such as the loss of prestige, sponsorship deals and commercial power caused by being out of the Champions League after the group stage for another season.
Exiting the most lucrative club competition in the world is particularly painful for Barcelona because of their big-spending this summer, bringing in the likes of reigning FIFA Best Men’s Player Robert Lewandowski on huge wages.
Barca have made progress with bringing down a level of debt that was reportedly around £1billion at the start of 2022, and the riches of the Champions League would have been immensely beneficial to the club’s attempts to make its books more manageable.
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