The Barça its continuity will be played in the Champions on the last day of the group stage. After not passing the draw against Benfica, he will have to win in Munich if he does not want to be at the expense of what the Portuguese team does at home against Dinamo Kiev. It has been 20 years since the Barça club fell in the first round of the top European competition. Beyond the sporting setback, being left out would mean another cheap stick for the battered coffers of the club.
Barça had budgeted 20.2 million in prizes for reaching at least the quarter-finals of the competition: UEFA pays 9.6 million for reaching the eighth and 10.6 for those who advance to the next round.
If he does not succeed, Xavi’s team would go on to play the Europa League, where the rewards are much less: 1.2 for those who play the eighths, 1.8 for the quarterfinals, 2.8 for reaching the semifinals, 4.6 for getting into the final and 4 for winning it. In other words, in the best case scenario, it could earn 14.4 million to mitigate the impact of being left out of the top European competition.
The year of Serra Ferrer
The last time Barça played the Europa League was in the 2000-2001 season. Under the mandate of Joan Gaspasr and after the departure of Luis Figo, the team led by Lorenzo Serra Ferrer did not pass the group stage of the Champions League, after losing at home against Milan (0-2), drawing at San Siro (3-3), not going beyond the tables in the Leeds field (1-1) and suffering a tumble at the Besiktas stadium (3-0). The Balearic coach would be dismissed after suffering the second European elimination of the season against Liverpool: McAllister, by transforming a penalty by Kluivert at Anfield, decided the semi-final of the Europa League.
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