Who’s responsible for this scheduling error? The neutral would perhaps have preferred to watch Barcelona squirm against a side they have conceded to by the bucketload in recent years.
Instead, by kick-off against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night, it was already known that Barca would be playing Europa League football after Christmas.
It made for another sorry evening at the Nou Camp before it had even really begun, and a humiliating one for Robert Lewandowski in particular, with the Polish striker facing his old team-mates knowing his new side could no longer reach the Champions League last 16.
Lewandowski had said “the path is shorter from Barcelona than from Bayern” with regards to winning the coveted Ballon d’Or, but the man who was cruelly denied the individual award in 2020 is now unlikely to trouble the 2023 podium after Barca’s latest calamity.
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The 3-3 draw at home to Inter earlier this month then made the Europa League a distinct prospect for Barca, who had recruited Lewandowski in the summer – as well as Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso – to avoid such an eventuality.
The signings were also made to avoid such a repeat, having finished third in the group stages last season as well before exiting the Europa League at the quarter-final stage to eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt – who not only outplayed them, but took over their backyard as well.
This time around, the group-stage exit will cost them a reported £17.7m – with Spanish media claiming the club had accounted to reach the quarter-finals – while they drop down to a competition in which Arsenal and Manchester United are deemed the leading contenders, with Juventus potentially joining them as well after they failed to make the Champions League knockouts for the first time in nine years.
Juventus are yet to seal third in Group H, and need to better Maccabi Haifa’s result on 2 November, but should they join Barca in the Europa League they will also be placed among the favourites.
However, these Barca and Juve sides do not carry the same fear factor that once surrounded them both, a point which has become abundantly clear in recent weeks, and so Arsenal and United may well relish – as opposed to dread – a possible knockout meeting in 2023.
Europa League 2022-23 winner odds
Odds per Betfair on 26 October:
- Arsenal – 4-1
- Man Utd – 11-2
- Real Betis – 12-1
- Real Sociedad – 16-1
- Freiburg – 20-1
- Roma – 25-1
- Lazio – 33-1
Barcelona odds TBC, Juventus not yet listed
Arsenal have enjoyed a perfect Europa League campaign so far, winning all four games, and though they dropped points against Southampton they remain top of the Premier League.
Manchester United, meanwhile, face a battle to topple Real Sociedad in Group E, but should comfortably qualify for the knockout stages. Erik ten Hag’s side host Moldovan Super Liga champions Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday, with a point enough to secure qualification.
United then travel to Sociedad on 3 November in a match which should decide the group winner.
The team that finishes top goes straight into the round of 16, while the runner-up faces a two-legged play-off with one of the teams that dropped down from the Champions League.
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Of course, United will hope to avoid such a possibility, and come next Thursday’s match at Sociedad it will be known whether Juve rank as possible opponents as well.
Be it Barca or Juve, that would be some Fall From Grace Derby, although United are seemingly back on an upwards trajectory under Ten Hag. The same cannot be said for Max Allegri at Juve, while the jury is still out on Xavi at Barca, with ensuring Real Madrid do not run away with La Liga arguably now a greater priority.
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