26 La Ligas, 30 Copa del Reys, 5 UCLs and multiple other honors, Fútbol Club Barcelona is one of the most successful clubs in the history of the beautiful game. The club has given us Cruyff's Dream Team, peak Ronaldinho, Pep's Juego de posición inspired the style of play and most recently, one of football's all-time greats, Lionel Messi.
However, no up comes without its downs. Barcelona has had a very difficult history, to say the least, from the assassination of their president to extreme financial crises. Now while those problems are definitely a thing of the past, its recent history has seen it suffer some of its most embarrassing defeats ever. Even though a strong contender in Europe, apart from a golden period in the mid 2000s, Barcelona has garnered a reputation of losing when it matters the most, so if you are a Barcelona fan now is the time to look away for here is a list of the 5 most humiliating defeats Barcelona has faced in recent history in Europe.
Barcelona 0-4 AC Milan, Athens (1994):
One of those nights that certainly didn't follow the script. Barcelona were coming off the back of an unprecedented fourth successive league title win, and had won the European Cup only a couple of seasons ago. AC Milan were going into the match without Gullit, van Basten, Baresi or Rijkaard. There was no way the depleted Milan side was to give a fight to the footballing revolution that was the Dream Team, and the tactical genius that was Cruyff.
As a staff member said, Barcelona were not going into the match to fight for the trophy. They were merely going there to collect it. It is as perfect a case of overconfidence trampling a team's shot at success as any you'll find in football. The team hadn't prepared enough, it lacked concentration and yet, the feeling in the dressing room and even across the world was that there was no chance they were going to lose. Only a few weeks later, a coaching staff member would say there was no chance of them winning that night. As Cruyff remarked, "It was not that we played badly, it was that we did not play at all."
The match marked the end of an era. A.C. Milan, known for its defensive solidarity tore through the opposition as they completely dominated the midfield through Desailly. There wasn't even a competition, and it remains one of the most memorable European finals of all time, and for all the wrong reasons for FC Barcelona.
Bayern Munich 4-0 Barcelona, Munich (2013):
Bayern Munich had just entered the record books by winning the German League by a record margin, being crowned champions six weeks before the final match day. Barcelona were looking for ways to bounce back, trying to cope up with the departure of Pep at the start of the season that marked the end of an era. Incidentally, he had been announced as Bayern's manager, to take reign from the next season start.
By all means, it looked a fairly even affair with the scales tipping only slightly in the favour of the Germans. But Jupp's brilliance meant the end result was a reflection of something else. Still hurt from the previous year's final loss, a tactical masterclass saw Bayern dominate the match with less than 40% of the possession. They were direct, decisive and pierced the defence like a bullet. They could easily have had more, with Robben raging through the wings, Muller dancing around the defenders, having them at his mercy and Martinez snapping ankles and surfing forward with penetrating runs.
Few teams have dominated Barcelona like Bayern did on that day. They would add on another three in the second leg and went on to win the tournament in Wembley against Dortmund. Barcelona fans still remember the nightmare of April the 23rd, and it has gone down in history as one of the worst aggregate scores in Barcelona's European history. Though they did win the league, the memory of the loss far overshadowed the joy of domestic victory.
Paris Saint Germain 4-0 Barcelona, Paris (2017):
There is something with Barcelona and 4-0 you would think. Another addition to what is Barcelona's worst defeat in terms of the score in the competition. PSG who had won every league title since 2013 were desperate to prove themselves in Europe and were led by a manager who had driven Sevilla to an unprecedented 3 successive UEFA Europa League, Unai Emery. But Barca had peak MSN, and were constantly tearing defences to shred having breezed past the group stages. It was a crisply set up match, though the result wasn't so.
In one of the most remarkable performances in the competition's history, PSG routed the Catalan giants as Europe's most feared attacking trio in recent memory remained anonymous throughout the 90 minutes. Di Maria who had flopped at United, was back to his best self as he scored two sublime goals, and then Draxler added to what was turning into a drubbing before Cavani, who was in the form of his life back then, sealed off the humiliation. The Parc des Princes was ecstatic to say the least, as the dejected look on Messi's face made the cover page of every newspaper. PSG wouldn't have dreamt in their wildest dreams of securing such a result, nor would have any sensible person before the match.
Even though Barcelona went on to win a highly controversial second leg 6-1 and cap off or the tournament's greatest ever comeback, that night in Paris was all about a scarring humiliation that made the history books.
AS Roma 3-0 Barcelona, Rome (2018):
This time though, Barcelona were on the wrong side of a comeback, as their quarter final curse continued. Having won comfortably 4-1 in the first leg, a few people bothered to even check the results of the second leg, let alone watch it, for it was done and dusted affair. A team reeling in the domestic league couldn't possibly upstage a comeback against Europe's giants that were on a record breaking unbeaten streak in La Liga and had breezed through to the finals of the Copa.
But like a certain someone had said, 1% chance, 99% faith. Barcelona started off on a very lethargic tone, giving a goal way too cheaply as Edin Dzeko slotted home from close range. Things got worse soon, as the striker earned a penalty which De Rossi scored with ease. One more goal was all that was needed, the fans had started to believe. Was the unthinkable unfolding before their eyes? Could it be, what couldn't happen? Were they witnessing history? All the questions were answered in the final minutes, as the words of Peter Drury echoed along with the jubilant voices of the Romans.
'Roma have risen from their ruins. Manolas, the Greek god in Rome. This was not meant to happen, this could not happen, this is happening! It's a Greek from Mount Olympus, who has come to the Seven Hills of Rome and pulled off a miracle!'
Not only were the dreams of a treble buried, but Barcelona had suffered an embarrassing defeat in the hands of a way inferior opponent who had no right to challenge them, let alone overcome them. But that is football, and unfortunately, that is Barcelona over the last few years.
Barcelona 2-8 Bayern Munich (2020):
In the single-legged Champions League quarterfinal in the 2019-20 season, held in Covid times. Barcelona faced one of their most embarrassing defeats in a long time.
Bayern thrashed Barcelona by 8-2. Thomas Muller scored two goals while Ivan Perisic, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Lewandowski and Coutinho scored one goal each.
Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona, Anfield (2019):
Lionel Messi back to his peak as he scored two goals including a sublime free kick in the first leg had helped Barcelona secure a comfortable 3-0 victory in the first leg. With Firmino and Salah unavailable, there was no way Liverpool were staging a comeback. It would have been somewhat ridiculous to think so, though the footballing community knew Barcelona could not be trusted when it came to such matches.
The stage was set for a treble of trebles. The league won, in the finals of the Copa and no Madrid, Juventus, Bayern, PSG, City or any other heavyweight left in the tournament. The script couldn't have been more perfect. But then, when has football ever followed the script?
The tunnel read, "This is Anfield", the stadium echoed "You'll Never Walk Alone", and a giant banner read, "make us dream." Liverpool had made Istanbul possible, and this time they had a 45 minutes extra to pull off the extraordinary, all at their very home. And so they did. Barcelona forgot that when it comes to Anfield, you never underestimate Liverpool, for they never say never. You don't take anything for granted or you'll be made to pay. A brace from Wijnaldum and Origi each meant the hosts ran out 4-0 winners. It was another special European night at Anfield, as their love affair with the UEFA Champions League continues. Barcelona on the other hand, have been left in the shadow and it makes you think whether they are ever going to win a Champions League again, for it doesn't seem like they want to.
This completes the list of the most embarrassing drudgings Barcelona had faced in recent history, and the way that Barcelona have been operating in the knockout stages of the competition, it looks like the list is going to get longer and longer over the next few seasons. This certainly must have been a satisfying read for rival fans, as it looks like Barcelona will take quite some time to recover from the latest humiliation. But then this is football, and it's all a part and parcel of the game. We're sure that the club will bounce back and be at its best again very soon.
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