Barcelona crash to nemesis Muller and slump to 21-year Champions League low

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez oversaw another heavy defeat against Bayern Munich as the Catalan giants exited the Champions League group stage for the first time in over two decades

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In pictures: Man Utd v Young Boys

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez was helpless to stop his side being blown away by Bayern Munich and exiting the Champions League at the group stage.

The German champions rarely had to get out of second gear to ease past the beleaguered Blaugrana, who will have to be content with a place in the Europa League.

It is the first time in 21 years that Barca have failed to progress past the group stage, managing to score just two goals in their six games and ranking third behind Benfica.

Sevilla and Wolfsburg also exited the competition on a night of drama, but Atalanta and Villarreal have to wait to find out their fate as their tie in Bergamo was postponed until Thursday due to snow.

These are the main talking points from Wednesday’s round of action.

Barca Mullered again

Barca’s Champions League exit was not only the headline of the night but of the entire group stage campaign.

It is the first time that the Blaugrana have failed to progress past the group stage since 2000/01 – and they whimper out having scored just twice in six group games.

They were heavily defeated by Bayern Munich again and again Thomas Muller found the net against them.

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The German international is Barca’s nemesis; he has now scored eight goals in seven matches against them, having also netted in the win at the Camp Nou in September.

Muller’s goal was a typical Muller one; scrappy and unorthodox, contorting his body to stretch his head backward with his effort creeping over the line – opening the scoring in a comfortable Bayern win.

Sevilla return to Europa League

Another big Spanish casualty of the night were Sevilla, whose defeat away at Red Bull Salzburg has condemned them to the Europa League.

The Andalusian side have won the Europa League a record six times and this season’s final will be in their home stadium of the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.

Yet missing out on the Champions League Round of 16 will hurt Julen Lopetegui’s side in a group in which they were favourites – alongside the Austrian side, Lille and Wolfsburg.

Sevilla managed just one win and six points, meaning they now must refocus their efforts on a competition in which they traditionally excel.

Lille’s three-goal victory at Wolfsburg means they join Red Bull Salzburg in the knockout stages.

Double Lisbon delight

Benfica have joined their Lisbon city rivals Sporting CP in the Round of 16 of the Champions League.

Goals from Roman Yaremchuk and Gilberto Junior sealed the win for Jorge Jesus’s side against Dynamo Kiev, sealing their progress at the expense of Barcelona.

Benfica kept four clean sheets in the group stage and despite an underwhelming domestic campaign – including a Lisbon derby loss on Friday night – the prestige and financial incentive of qualification to the knockout stages is a significant one for the club.

The one regret for Portuguese football was FC Porto missing out on completing a hat-trick of teams to advance – Sergio Conceicao’s team missed out on qualification to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.

Juve pip Chelsea to top spot

Juventus are enduring a relatively miserable domestic season so far – they are 11 points off the summit of the table and seven points from the top four.

Yet Max Allegri’s side managed to take full advantage of Chelsea slipping up at Zenit Saint Petersburg as they edged out Swedish side Malmo in Turin.

An early goal from Moise Kean – on loan from Everton – was enough to give Juve the points and ensure they top their group.

That means they cannot play an English side in the Round of 16 nor Bayern Munich, and will theoretically have a more favourable draw.

Chelsea conceding their last-minute equaliser in Russia may prove costly.