Inter's win at home to Viktoria Plzen confirmed Barcelona's place in the Europa League - here is a look at their route to the round of 16.
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| Barcelona drops to Europa League for the second consecutive season. |
Barcelona find themselves eliminated from the group stages of the Champions League following Inter's 4-0 rout of Viktoria Plzen. Barca must now enter a playoff to feature in the the Europa League's round of 16, where the Catalan side will take on other third-placed teams from the Champions League, as well as those that qualified second in the Europa League group stage. They will not be eligible to feature against other Spanish sides due to UEFA regulations.
Current eligible third-placed teams in the Champions League include: Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk and Juventus. Runners-up in the Europa League at this time include: PSV, Rennes, Ludogrets, Braga, Manchester United, Midtylland, Qarabag and Trabzonspor.
HOW BARCA CRASHED OUT
Barca crashed out to the Europa League on Wednesday night without kicking a ball. They needed Viktoria Plzen to defeat second-placed Inter at San Siro, before going on to win against group leaders Bayern Munich at Camp Nou. The Italians were victorious, however, confirming Barca's third-place finish and relegating them to the Europa League for the second year running.
Barcelona going out of the Champions League at the group stages is a potentially catastrophic financial blow to an already very, very delicate economic situation.
WHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA
After a dead-rubber fixture against Viktoria Plzen in their final Champions League group game next week, Barca will await their Europa League fate when the draw is made before the start of the World Cup. The play-off itself will be played on February 16 and February 23.
WHY BARCA MUST PLAY ROUND OF 32
Before even kicking a ball against Bayern at Camp Nou, Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage for the second consecutive season. However, as Viktoria Plzen have not picked up a point in Group C, Xavi's side have another Europa League knockout campaign to prepare for.
Because they have dropped into Europe's secondary club competition as a result of their failure in the Champions League, Barca must play a playoff round to actually qualify for the last 16. In that two-legged tie, they will face one of the teams who finished the Europa League group stage as runners-up.
Those two matches will be played on February 16 and February 23, with the draw to be made prior to the start of the World Cup on November 7. Barcelona cannot be drawn against another Spanish team in that round.
WHO COULD BARCELONA BE DRAWN AGAINST?
Ahead of gameweek four in the Europa League group stage on Thursday, the current runners-up in the groups are as follows: PSV, Rennes, Ludogorets, Braga, Manchester United, Midtjylland, Qarabag and Trabzonspor.
WHAT NEXT
Despite having nothing to play for, Barca must still travel to the Czech Republic next week to face Viktoria Plzen. They will then have to wait less than a week to find out their round of 32 playoff opponents.
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