Magnus Carlsen takes a hilarious dig at Barcelona as they suffer Champions League exit
Inter Milan won 4-0 over Viktoria Plzen and put Barcelona on the brink of Champions League exit.
SHARE
Oct 27, 2022 1:02 pm
Magnus Carlsen (left) and FC Barcelona (right). (Source: Twitter)
Magnus Carlsen, the World Chess Champion and an avid follower of football, took a dig at Barcelona as the Spanish football club were on the brink of elimination from the UEFA Champions League 2022-23. This came following Inter Milan’s crushing 4-0 win over Viktoria Plzen, which virtually extinguished Barcelona’s chances to qualify for the round of 16 of the competition.
Hours after Inter Milan’s win, Barcelona faced a humiliating defeat themselves, losing 3-0 to Bayern Munich at home, confirming their exit from the Champions League. However, their third spot in their group is confirmed, meaning that they would be heading to the knockout stages of UEFA Europa League 2022-23.
“Good thing the Inter game is not close, so I can focus on chess and Barcelona on the Europa League,” wrote Carlsen on Twitter.
Good thing the Inter game is not close, so I can focus on chess and Barcelona on the Europa League
Champions League has been very cruel to us: Xavi Hernandez
Barcelona were placed in one of the toughest groups on paper alongside former Champions League winners Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. And it was going to be quite the task for the Barca manager Xavi Hernandez and his players to make it to the next round of the competition. They also started off with a promising win over Viktoria Plzen. Ever since, they salvaged a draw and suffered three losses, making it yet another disappointing Champions League campaign.
Xavi called the loss a “shame” because the team had high expectations in the Champions League. He feels that the group they were placed in was complicated and everything went against them. He also added that the competition was “very cruel” to Barcelona.
“It’s a shame because we had high expectations in this competition,” Xavi was quoted as saying in Indian Express. “It was a complicated group, and everything went against us. This Champions League has been very cruel to us.” The goalscorers in the 3-0 loss at Camp Nou were Sadio Mane, Erix-Maxim Choupo-Moting and Benjamin Pavard. This would also mean that Barcelona will be playing Europa League knockouts for the second successive season.
