Barcelona surpassed the round of 16 of the Champions League this Tuesday after eliminating Naples (3-1) at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium, and thus confirmed its qualification for the quarterfinals, a round it had not reached since 2020.
The Barça team had not appeared among the eight best teams on the continent since the 2019-2020 season, when after defeating Naples in the round of 16 (1-1 and 3-1) they were beaten in the quarterfinals by Bayern Munich (2-8) in a tie played in a single match and without an audience, due to the coronavirus, at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
That European disaster precipitated the dismissal of coach Quique Setién and the arrival of Ronald Koeman, a replacement that did not improve Barcelona’s performance in the Champions League, defeated in the round of 16 by PSG (1-4 and 1-1). in the 2020-2021 campaign.
Barça suffered the earliest elimination since the 2006-2007 season, in the round of 16 against Liverpool (1-2 and 1-0), and put an end to thirteen uninterrupted seasons among the eight best teams in Europe, in which it was proclaimed champion On three occasions, they lost five times in the semifinals and another five in the quarterfinals.
However, the worst was yet to come. In the 2021-2022 campaign, without Leo Messi in the squad and with the signing of Xavi Hernández as coach to relieve Koeman in November, Barça was eliminated in the group stage for the first time since the 2000-2001 season. Condemned to play in the Europa League, they lost in the quarterfinals against Eintracht (1-1 and 2-3).
History repeated itself last season. Barcelona finished the group stage of the Champions League in third place and was eliminated by Manchester United in the intermediate round of the second continental competition (2-2 and 1-2).
With its return to the quarterfinals of the ‘Champions’ after four years of waiting, Barcelona hopes to have closed the worst European chapter of this century and, with the help of young talents like Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, to establish itself again in the continental elite. EFE
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