It came without warning. Many football analysts and supporters were totally taken by surprise. But by the time the matches were rounded up, some of the big teams in this year’s competition had been kicked out unexpectedly.
Real Madrid FC, Barcelona FC and Arsenal FC, clubs that are football giants in Europe had all lost out to teams that they were expected to beat.
When the champion’s league knockout stage draw paired Barcelona and Liverpool together, all expected an easy ride for the former. After all, they were the reigning champions, and were one of the top teams in Europe on current form.
But a two to one loss right on their home soil meant that they had to win by two unreplied goals in the return leg at Liverpool.
They could only manage to score a lone goal, however and that meant that they lost out on the away goals rule.
The Barcelona fans and many other football followers worldwide were stunned by this result.
Many had expected the Barca team to at least reach the finals of this season’s competition. They were one of the best teams around and had given very good displays all year round. Alas, however, they had lost to a smaller club by comparison.
Although Liverpool were the European champions in 2005, no one had expected them to cause a major upset by beating Barcelona, at least on paper.
After the match, some analysts attributed the shock defeat to the recent turmoil in the team. The scorer of the lone goal at Anfield, Eidur Gudjohnssen in a press interview after the match made comments that seemed to corroborate the fact that all was not well with the team, as was being widely speculated.
Now, the Barca team can only realistically hope to aim for the Spanish league title and the King’s cup.
They still have a good shot at winning, as they are still on top of the la liga, ahead of second placed Sevilla on goals difference.
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