Barcelona is on the verge of getting eliminated from the UCL group stage again this season. If so happens, definitely, it's going to be bad news for Xavi as a club with such a legacy, playing in Europa League for 2 consecutive seasons would not be tolerated by fans.
CALCULATIONS:
Bayern Would be the visiting team and Barcelona would be hoping that their fans would mentally choke the Bayern side even before the match starts. A lot is at stake for Barcelona if they fail to win their chance to qualify to the knock-out stages will be over. In another match, Barcelona's group rivals Inter will be playing against Viktoria Plzen in which Inter is the favorite to win if Viktoria does not pull what we call a footballing upset. To qualify, even if Barcelona wins today, they have to succeed in their next game as well against Viktoria given Inter lose against Bayern. Such stands the equation on a thin thread and Barcelona's reputation as well.
REPUTATION AT STAKE:
The Catalonian side's arc rivals Real Madrid are already in the knockout stages. The last time Barca played Europa League and Madrid, on the other hand, won the Champions League trophy despite being not the favorites throughout the tournament. Repetition of such circumstances this season as well will hurt the Barcelona fans a lot and their status of being one of the 2 giants; the other being Real, in Spanish football may take a toll. Moreover despite spending so much in this summer window to rebuild the team, failing to qualify for the knockout stages would raise questions on the team and club management as well.
Expected Lineup- Barcelona:
Thomas Muller has thrown a challenge to the Barcelona striker and his former teammate as they visit Camp Nou. Now, it would be a few hours' wait before we know how Barcelona will respond to the chants of their fans and will answer the question, has Xavi been able to fix the shortcomings till now and how will he handle the absence of key players in defense such as Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo.
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