Here is a look at Barcelona’s path to the round of 16 in the Europa League after Inter’s victory against Viktoria Plzen at home. Following Inter’s 4-0 thrashing of Viktoria Plzen, Barcelona is out of the Champions League group stages. Barca must now compete in a playoff to advance to the round of 16 of the Europa League, where they will face other third-placed Champions League teams as well as those that finished second in the group stage. Due to UEFA rules, they are ineligible to play against other Spanish teams.
Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt, Red Bull Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Juventus are the current third-placed clubs in the Champions League who are eligible. Currently, PSV, Rennes, Ludogrets, Braga, Manchester United, Midtjylland, Qarabag, and Trabzonspor are the runners-up in the Europa League. On Wednesday night, Barca was eliminated from the Europa League without even kicking a ball. Before beating group leaders Bayern Munich at Camp Nou, they required Viktoria Plzen to defeat second-placed Inter at San Siro.
However, the Italians came out on top, guaranteeing Barça’s third-place result and demoting them to the Europa League for a second consecutive season. After playing Viktoria Plzen in their final Champions League group match the following week, Barca will wait to learn their fate in the Europa League when the draw is held before the start of the World Cup. There will be two actual play-off dates: February 16 and February 23.
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