Barcelona and Juventus risk Champions League oblivion

Carlo Garganese

• 12 Dec 2021 12:00 CST
• 4 min read

Barcelona’s disastrous week did not end on a high as they suffered yet another disappointing result on Sunday.

The Blaugrana travelled to Pamplona for a must-win La Liga game but, despite leading twice through youngsters Nico Gonzalez and Abde Ezzalzouli, had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

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This result means that, just days after being dumped out of this season’s Champions League in the group stage following a 3-0 thumping by Bayern Munich, Barcelona are in very real danger of failing to qualify for next year’s competition.

Ahead of Sunday’s final two La Liga games – Real Betis versus Real Sociedad and the Madrid derby – Barcelona find themselves five points off the Champions League places. If fourth-placed Atletico Madrid beat Real Madrid, they will move eight points clear of Barca.

Juventus are in an even bleaker position in Serie A. Their 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Venezia on Saturday means they will end the weekend at least eight points - and probably nine - outside the Champions League places.

Having only avoided missing out on this year’s Champions League because Napoli failed to beat Verona at home on the final day of last season, it seems as if this time the Bianconeri may actually miss out.

The background to the crisis at Juventus can be read here, and more detail on Barcelona’s situation can be read here.

But there is no doubt that the situations at both clubs are eerily similar. Both are financially crippled, with Barcelona €1.3 billion in debt and Juventus requiring capital injections of €400 million this summer to help clear their debts.

Both teams have painfully sub-standard squads as a result of years of sporting and financial mismanagement – and an incompetent transfer policy.

But neither club can dip into the transfer market and spend heavily as they simply can’t afford to. Barcelona are barely able to even register the contracts of new players and had to rely on signing free transfers this past summer. Juventus will need to sell before they can buy next month.

Both teams possess arguably the worst attacks they have had in decades. Both have scored only 23 goals in league play (17 games for Juventus and 15 for Barcelona). The Blaugrana incredibly scored just two goals in six Champions League games this campaign.

And both, of course, were at the heart of the failed Super League breakaway earlier this year, conscious that there is no easy fix to the problems engulfing their clubs.

Failure to qualify for the Champions League, and losing the much-needed revenue that the tournament brings, would be the final nail in the coffin for these two legendary clubs.