Barcelona, 24 Feb. Barcelona suffered in the Europa League against Manchester United (2-1) on Thursday its fourth European elimination in 1 year and 77 days after this season in the group stage of the Champions League and the two last year in the same competitions.
The Catalan team was eliminated from the Champions League on December 8, 2021 after losing to Bayern Munich (3-0) in the group stage and the same thing happened to them in the quarter-finals of the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt (2-3) on April 14, 2022. This season, Inter Milan’s victory against Viktoria Pilsen on November 26, 2022 once again knocked them out of the “Champions” group stage.
In these last four appearances in European competitions, Barcelona have recorded six wins, six draws and eight defeats in 20 games played with a total of 25 goals for and 33 against.
In the current season, Xavi Hernández’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of the eight matches played between the Champions League and the Europa League, conceding a total of 16 goals (2 per game).
These numbers stand in stark contrast to those in La Liga, in which Barcelona lead second-placed Real Madrid by eight points, having conceded just seven goals in 22 games. Moreover, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has kept a clean sheet in 17 of those games.
In fact, Real Madrid, with a 3-1 win in the first round of the League, is the only team that has managed to score more than one goal against Barcelona in regular competition. On the other hand, in Europe, the Catalan team conceded more than one goal in six of the eight games played.
Bayern Munich twice (with two and three goals scored), Inter Milan (three), Viktoria Pilsen (two) and Manchester United also in two games (two and two) managed to beat Ter Stegen more than once. times in the same game.
After this new elimination in Europe, the Spotify Camp Nou will not see any more competitive European matches until, at least, the 2024-2025 season, when Barcelona are expected to return from exile at the Olympic stadium in Montjuïc while they carry out the remodeling works. from the stronghold of Barça. AND
Sergi Escudero