Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League in the group stage for the first time in over 20 years with a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich on Wednesday, as Benfica, Lille and Red Bull Salzburg all qualified for the last 16.
Meanwhile, Chelsea missed out on first place in its group to Juventus after conceding a late equaliser away to Zenit Saint Petersburg, while snow in northern Italy forced the postponement of Atalanta’s decisive game against Villarreal.
Barcelona started the day in second place in Group E but had to win away to Bayern Munich to be sure of going through, otherwise it risked being overtaken by Benfica.
Xavi Hernandez’s side was duly outclassed by an already-qualified Bayern, which made it six wins out of six in the group, with Thomas Muller’s 34th-minute header crossing the line before Ronald Araujo could clear.
Leroy Sane’s powerful strike doubled the lead before the break and Jamal Musiala made it 3-0 just after the hour. The Catalans were knocked out as Benfica beat Dynamo Kiev 2-0 in Lisbon and took the second spot.
Barcelona last went out of the Champions League in the group stage in 2000/01 when a team featuring a 20-year-old Xavi finished third in its section behind AC Milan and Leeds United.
In contrast Lille is through to the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in 15 years after beating Wolfsburg 3-1 in Germany to top Group G.
Salzburg also progressed, thanks to a 1-0 win over Sevilla.
The results: Group H: Juventus 1 (Kean 18) bt Malmo 0; Zenit St-Petersburg 3 (Claudinho 38, Azmoun 41, Ozdoev 90+4) drew with Chelsea 3 (Werner 2, 85, Lukaku 62).
Group E: Benfica 2 (Yaremchuk 16, Gilberto 22) bt Dynamo Kiev 0; Bayern Munich 3 (Muller 34, Sane 43, Musiala 62) bt Barcelona 0.
Group F: Manchester United 1 (Greenwood 9) drew with Young Boys 1 (Rieder 42); Atalanta vs Villarreal match snowed off.
Group G: RB Salzburg 1 (Okafor 50) bt Sevilla 0; Wolfsburg 1 (Steffen 89) lost to Lille 3 (Yilmaz 11, David 72, Gomes 78).
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