Madrid: Both FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid crashed out of the UEFA Champions League on a bad night for La Liga, with Barca crashing to defeat and Atletico held to a draw at home.
Inter Milan’s 4-0 home win over Viktoria Plzen meant that Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League and condemned to a place in the Europa League.
Barca lost 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich after being outplayed by the Germans for most of the game and failing to manage a single shot on target in the game.
Sadio Mane put Bayern ahead in the tenth minute and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting doubled their lead just after the half-hour mark.
Barca huffed and puffed without causing Bayern serious problems, and Benjamin Pavard netted the third goal with the last kick of the game following a corner.
Meanwhile, Porto’s win away to Club Brugge meant that anything other than a win for Atletico at home to Bayer Leverkusen would also see their Champions League adventure come to an end for this season.
There was high drama in Atletico’s match, especially in the final minute, reports Xinhua.
Atletico failed to score from a corner and the referee blew the final whistle when the score was 2-2. But then the referee received a call from VAR over a possible penalty for the Spanish side.
The penalty was awarded to Atletico, but Yannick Carrasco saw his spot-kick saved by Lucas Hradecky and Saul Niguez headed the rebound off the bar.
The game began with Leverkusen taking the lead through Moussa Diaby, with Carrasco netting for Atletico in the 22nd minute. Callum Hudson-Odoi put Leverkusen back in lead in the 29th minute, and although Rodrigo de Paul drew Atletico level early in the second half, they couldn’t find a winner, even from the penalty spot.
Atletico now have to equal Leverkusen’s result in the last group game in order to ensure their place in the Europa League.
