There will be no Champions League (CL) football for Barcelona at the start of 2022 as the five-time champions have been knocked out of the competition. Barcelona’s 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich coupled with Benfica’s win against Dynamo Kyiv proved to be the final straw for the Catalonian side. As a result of the defeat, Barcelona are now relegated to the Europa League as they face transition within. It was the first time in 20 years that Barcelona have exited the group stage of the competition. Here is a look at what went wrong for them.
Poor Transfer deals
It was a long time coming but poor transfers in the past couple of seasons had something to do with. Malcom, Alex Vidal, Arda Turan, Antoine Griezmann, all arrived for big fees but no one could stamp their authority on the team. Philippe Coutinho did win the CL after his transfer to Barcelona, but it came at Bayern Munich when he was on loan and scored twice against Barcelona. Players like Neymar, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi were not replaced properly bring in unknown and inexperienced players.
The Lionel Messi exit
In less than four years Barcelona have gone from Messi, Neymar to Memphis Depay and Luke de Jong. The Argentine was the club's all-time top scorer and the highest scorer for the club for the last 15 seasons. Messi’s contract ran down and the situation wasn’t handled well as the player had to leave for a free transfer. Messi’s absence meant that Barcelona were at a loss for both goals and assists.
Troubles at board level
The Josep Bartomeu era was a successful yet controversial era in the history of Barcelona. After taking over the reins in 2014 the club achieved success in 2015 winning a treble of CL, La Liga and Copa Del Rey. However, this success was brief as downfall followed in the club as Neymar’s exit in 2017 wasn’t met with open hands from the Camp Nou fans. There was no replacement in the team, academy players were not up to the mark. Ultimately Messi's exit proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Bartomeu who was replaced by Joan Laporta.
