Barcelona are the headline Champions League failures, but they’re not alone as Atletico crash out too – The Warm-Up
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 27/10/2022 at 08:15 GMT
Barcelona are heading for the Europa League, and they could be joined by fellow Liga side Atletico Madrid and Serie A's Juventus – the duo who cannot finish second in their Champions League group but could still finish fourth. Elsewhere, Spurs have a VAR nightmare and Cristiano Ronaldo is returning to have a shot against the Sheriff – if he plays tonight, that is.
Eriksen: 'Man Utd are on the right path' with Ten Hag
THURSDAY’S BIG STORIES
Barca take a tumble – and Atletico too
Oh, the shame. And oh, the awful, unforgivable scheduling.
Sure, Inter beating Viktoria Plzen seemed a formality, but still it would have been better in terms of drama to see Barcelona hearts break mid-match against Bayern Munich as opposed to 30 minutes before kick-off.
That did, however, give Barca the ignominy of playing against a team so used to humiliating them, knowing already that it was to be Europa League football, not Champions League football, for Xavi’s side after Christmas.
It is difficult to think of a more immediately embarrassing moment to play against a team like Bayern Munich than having the knowledge you have just been eliminated from a competition you are about to play in, and then there is Robert Lewandowski – a penny for his thoughts.
"Keep believing," insisted Joan Laporta ahead of the game. "We have a very competitive team, with very good players who are going to bring you a lot of joy. Stick behind Xavi, he needs your warmth and confidence. That's what we will give him and we hope the fans do too."
"We'll get through this. We won't ever stop working for what we want. This club has had all kinds of ups and downs over the years, but we have always bounced back. And we can still do that, from every part of the club."
But while the laughs and pointing fingers are in Barcelona’s direction, they are far from the only big club to have failed on the Champions League stage, and it is going to make for a stacked Europa League knockout bonanza.
Few would have expected Atletico Madrid to finish third-best in a group featuring Club Bruges, Porto and Bayer Leverkusen, and Diego Simeone’s side could yet even place fourth with second no longer possible.
At the death, they had the chance to keep their Champions League hopes alive, although at the death does not even do it justice. It was the 99th minute. But Yannick Carrasco saw his penalty saved, Saul saw his rebound hit the crossbar, and Atletico saw their hopes go up in smoke.
Add to that the fact Juventus and Sevilla could also be in the Europa League, and Ajax almost certainly dropping down after their defeat to Liverpool, and suddenly Arsenal and Manchester United have plenty of unwanted company in Europe’s secondary competition.
It’s making for a who’s who of who’s having a campaign to forget, and Spurs will be spitting feathers if they join the club next week…
VAR mania at Spurs
Ah the magic of Champions League football, where two sides, their fans inside the stadium, and those watching on from home are made to wait for more than three minutes in injury time as VAR makes a match and group-stage defining decision.
And, like, well, er, yeah. That just isn’t the right decision… Is it? The line. What is that line. Why is the line there. And doesn’t the ball go backwards? Please someone enlighten us, but like Antonio Conte we are pretty perplexed, although unlike the apoplectic Spurs boss we weren’t sent off last night.
“I don’t understand the line they put,” Conte told BT Sport afterwards. Valid. “It very difficult to comment on this decision.” Also valid.
"VAR is doing a lot of damage.” Very valid. “I want to see if in another stadium of a big team if they are ready to disallow this type of goal. I’d like to know this.” Intriguing, and also valid.
"A lot of injustice. I don’t like this type of situation. I see not positive things.” Valid. Valid. Valid.
Now Spurs have a trip to Marseille to navigate with just two points separating all four sides in the group.
Conte adds, with a valid point don’t you know: "I don’t understand why we have to get something from the next game when we can finish the qualification in this game. When you invent this type of situation, you create a lot of damage – also problems."
Ronaldo running out of options
Erik ten Hag has welcomed Cristiano Ronaldo back into the Manchester United squad after his Tottenham transgression. However, it must be said we would not file these comments under 'open arms'.
"Yes, Cristiano will be in the squad on Thursday," Ten Hag said at his pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Sheriff.
"I think we said everything and answered all the questions. He was out for one game and now he is back in the squad as usual. It's done. He's back. Let's focus on the game."
Sporting, meanwhile, dreams of Ronaldo return...or so they say. Sporting coach Ruben Amorim.
"Everyone at Sporting dreams of Ronaldo's return, but we don't have the money for his salary," said Amorim.
IN THE CHANNELS
It’s a Barcelona/Vikky Plzen double. Enjoy.
HAT-TIP
28/10/2017: England won the U-17 World Cup following an astonishing fightback from 2-0 down to beat Spain in front of a giant 80,000-strong crowd in Kolkata. Here is current Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper and Man City schemer Phil Foden talking to Eurosport in the wake of that match.
Nearly five years on, The Athletic have elected to review the progress of that squad. Suffice to say, it was stacked, there was some serious talent in there and their career trajectories have been - to say the least - impressive. The squad included Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White - the 10th most expensive English player - Callum Hudson-Odoi, Emile Smith-Rowe amongst others.*
One of many great snippets comes from Angel Gomes, who says the following of Phil Foden:
I spoke a lot to Phil in that camp. As funny as it sounds, even when he was playing well, he was still upset about certain things. He’d speak to me a lot. I would talk to him during games to give him that extra boost and confidence. When he feels that love, he’s unstoppable. In that tournament, he was unstoppable.
Jadon Sancho left the tournament early.
RETRO CORNER
Chelsea 6-0 Man City some 15 years ago now. Look who’s managing City!
How far they’ve come…
COMING UP
There will be minute-by-minute updates from the Europa League - the new home of Barcelona - and the Europa Conference League. There will be commentaries on PSV v Arsenal, Man Utd v Sheriff and West Ham v Silkeborg.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article