UCL: 'Elimination before the game affected Barcelona psychologically' - Xavi on Bayern hammering

Things have not gone Spanish giants Barcelona's way for the last couple of seasons. Barca has been ousted in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the second season in a row, as it is all set to finish third. Consequently, it would be entering the UEFA Europa League. The Catalans' fate had already been sealed earlier on Wednesday after Italian giants Inter Milan trumped 4-0 over Viktoria Plzen, while Barcelona was hammered 3-0 by German champion Bayern Munich later during the day at Camp Nou. In the meantime, Barca head coach Xavi reckoned that knowing the fate beforehand affected its performance against the Bavarians.

After the defeat, Xavi cited, "Today we didn't compete. We didn't reach their level. [Bayern] were excellent, much better, more intense. I'm sure that the elimination before the game affected us psychologically. I'm sure it did." It is the first time the Catalans have been consecutively eliminated in the group stage since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 campaigns under Louis van Gaal.

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"We were drawn into a tough group, and everything has happened to us in the Champions League. It wasn't warm-hearted, but today we didn't compete. On other days we did, but not today. I understand that people talk about failure from the outside, but we have a different analysis from the inside. It's a cruel way to go out of the competition, but if we analyse the other games, I think we deserved more," concluded Xavi, reports FotMob.