Barcelona

For the second year in a row, Barcelona's Champions League campaign ended in the group stage on Wednesday, and this year's flop is much harder to deal with.

In the summer the club had also wanted to sell midfielder Frenkie de Jong. So it should be hard for fans to accept that a revamped, new-look Barcelona is out of the most lucrative and prestigious competition in club football in the month of October. “We have not been up to the task due to our lack of effectiveness in the area and our mistakes. Barcelona was barely able to meet the Spanish league’s financial rules based on debts compared to revenues necessary to register new players for this season. Xavi, a fan favorite for his leading role in the best Barcelona teams of all time when he played under Pep Guardiola, returned with no major club experience to take over the team as its coach last season when Ronald Koeman was fired. The bet, Laporta argued, was necessary to get Barcelona back to winning titles now and to reclaim its spot among Europe’s football elite.