Barcelona gave its 'resignation from the football elite' as it hit another post-Messi low and was dumped out of the Champions League group stage

• Barcelona has been dumped out of the Champions League group stage for the first time in 17 years.
• The team was thumped 3-0 by Bayern Munich on Wednesday, having scored only two goals all tournament.

FC Barcelona's post-Lionel Messi plight hit a new low on Wednesday night as it was dumped out of the Champions League group stage for the first time in 17 years.

Xavi's side was beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich in its final Group E game at the Allianz Arena, with goals from Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane, and Jamal Musiala sealing an emphatic win for the German champion.

The defeat for Barca combined with Benfica's win over Dynamo Kiev meant it finished third in the group and will now drop down into the Europa League.

The last time Barca failed to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League was in 2003/04, when it did not qualify for the competition at all.

Barca's 2021/22 campaign in the Champions League was particularly stark for the team statistically, with the club only scoring two goals in six games, winning 1-0 against minnows Dynamo Kyiv twice.

It failed to score in any of its other four games, losing 3-0 three times, and drawing 0-0 once.

Barcelona's early exit from European soccer's elite competition continues a miserable season for the Catalan club after financial problems forced it to let Messi leave on a free transfer to join Paris Saint-Germain in the summer.

Without the Argentine, the club currently sit seventh in La Liga having won just six of 15 games so far.

Manager Xavi made his feelings on his side's current form clear after the defeat to Bayern.

"Bayern dominated us," he told reporters. "We always want to dominate but it was the opposite here. We must demand more. We're Barca. This must be a point of inflection to change the dynamic and many more things.

"This is the Champions League, but this is also our reality. It's the situation we're in. I'm angry. This is the reality and it pisses me off. We have to tackle it face on. There's nothing else for it.

"A new era starts today. We start from zero. Our objective is the Champions League, not the Europa League but that is our reality now and we have to try and win it."

Spanish newspaper AS described the defeat as Barcelona's "resignation from the football elite."