- It's been a disastrous week in the Champions League for some of Europe's biggest soccer clubs.
- FC Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Juventus all crashed out.
FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid both crashed out of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night to round off what has been a disastrous week in the competition for a number of Europe's biggest soccer clubs.
Barcelona was eliminated without even kicking a ball due to Inter Milan's 4-0 over Viktoria Plzen, but its misery was compounded with a crushing 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich later that same evening.
Atletico exited the competition in dramatic fashion after missing a penalty in the 98th minute and hitting the crossbar from the rebound as it drew 2-2 with Bayer Leverkusen.
The results mean Barcelona will drop into the Europa League for the second season running, while Atletico must match Leverkusen's result in the final round of the group stage to secure its place in Europe's second-tier competition.
"There were a lot of expectations, but we got a tough group," Barcelona manager Xavi told reporters after his side's loss to Bayern.
"All sorts has happened to us in the group stage. It's been cruel on us."
Atletico manager Diego Simeone said of his side's draw and subsequent elimination: "It summarizes a little what our play was until today in this competition.
"Everything has been a significant struggle, in many of the games where we did not gain points, we could have scored a few more goals if we were more effective. The final images, with the missed penalty, the shot against the crossbar and the shot against Carrasco, sum it up."
—beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) October 26, 2022
The early Champions League exits for Barcelona and Atletico come after Juventus was also eliminated from the competition on Tuesday.
The Italian giant suffered its fourth defeat in five group games, beaten 4-3 by Portuguese side Benfica in a thrilling match at the Estádio da Luz.
Failing to do so will mean Juventus will go without knockout stage European soccer for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
"Now we have to focus on the league and also remain focused against Paris because we have at least to book a place in the Europa League," said Allegri.
"I don't consider this a failure. In football there are also defeats. We are sorry and angry."
Last year, Barcelona, Atletico, and Juventus were all among the group of major soccer clubs that announced their commitment to the European Super League – a breakaway competition that was designed to replace the Champions League.
AC Milan, Arsenal, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Tottenham also pledged their allegiance to the competition, which would see Europe's "elite" clubs face each other more often than ever before and receive billions for doing so.
The idea fell flat on its face, however, amid backlash from the global soccer community, which condemned the competition as a cash grab that would destabilize the domestic leagues at the core of European soccer.
Critics also hit out at the assumption that the 12 clubs involved were indeed the best on the continent.
With five of the Super League's original members – Barcelona, Atletico, Juventus, Arsenal, and Manchester United – now either playing in the Europa League or out of European competition altogether, such critics have been proven right.