Barca Relegated to the Second Tier Europa League for the First Time Since 2000

 

Hard times continue to hit FC Barcelona in their rebuilding process. For the first time the Spanish side has gone down to the second tier Europa League. 

Bayern Munich put up a dominant display which saw them beat Barcelona 3-0 in their final Champions League final Group E game on Wednesday.

The result means for the first time since the 2000/01 season, Barcelona are eliminated from the Champions League group stages.

They will play Europa League football for the first time since it was the UEFA Cup in 2003-04.

Going into the fixture, Barca needed to win At Bayern in order to stand a chance of advancing into the round of 16.

But goals from Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala, ensured Bayern completed the double over Barca in the group stage.

Bayern, who finished top on 18 points, are joined in the round of 16 by Benfica, who defeated Dynamo Kyiv 2-0 also on Wednesday.

In Group F, Manchester United who have already qualified for the knockout stage were held to a 1-1 draw by Young Boys at Old Trafford.

Prior to the game, United had already sealed qualification into the next round.

The group’s other game between Atalanta and Villarreal was postponed to Thursday due to heavy snow.

Villarreal have seven points while Atalanta are on six points and a draw will be enough for the Spanish team to go through.

And in Group G, Salzburg pipped Sevilla 1-0 and Lille beat Wolfsburg 3-1 away.

Both Lille and Salzburg progress into the round of 16 and Sevilla drop down to the Europa League.

Have Barcelona ever played in and won the Europa League?

The Catalan side have never participated in UEFA's rebranded competition since the former UEFA Cup was given the new moniker in 2009 and Monday's draw will be the first time the Camp Nou side feature in the draw for the second tier competition.

The last time Barcelona failed to advance to the knockout stages of the Champions League was in the 2000/01 season. The Catalan side finished third in their group behind AC Milan and Leeds United. It was a low point for the club and one which current boss Xavi will remember. The former midfielder was part of Llorenç Serra Ferrer's squad that season and featured in the last three group stage games. The last time that the Primera club were unable to qualify for the Champions League group stage was in 2003 as they finished in sixth-placed in LaLiga.