Barcelona, FC Porto, Other Teams That Have Surprisingly Dropped Into Europa League From Champions League

Surprisingly, Barcelona has dropped to Europa League From the Champions League for the first time since they were defeated by Celtic in 2004.

Infoexpert24 reports that Barca is definitely the biggest club that will play in the Europa League in the new year.

Barcelona was beaten 3-0 by Bayern Munich in their last Group E fixture on Wednesday, a result that saw them finish in third place.

Barcelona, FC Porto, Other Teams That Have Surprisingly Dropped Into Europa League From Champions League

However, some other notable teams will play in Europe’s second-tier competition.

Borussia Dortmund, FC Porto, RB Leipzig have all dropped into the Europa League from the Champions League this season.

They will be joined by Sevilla, Sheriff Tiraspol, and Zenit. The last club to join them will be determined when Atalanta takes on Villarreal on Thursday.

Infoexpert24 understands that the game was moved from Wednesday because of heavy snowing.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME BARCELONA PLAYED IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE?

Well, it wasn’t called the Europa League back then instead, it was known as the UEFA Cup.

Barcelona ended up there in the 2003-04 season. After a sixth-place finish in La Liga, it was the best they could manage.

After coasting through to the Fourth Round, Barcelona ran into Celtic – and that’s where things ended.

CELTIC PLAYER SCORED LAST GOAL AGAINST BARCELONA IN UEFA CUP

Barcelona was beaten 1-0 away at Celtic as Alan Thompson buried the winner.

Photo Credit: GettyImages

When the two sides met for the second leg in Catalunya, Celtic held out for a 0-0 draw against Barcelona.

That sent Barcelona out of the competition, with Celtic claiming a famous scalp.

Thompson’s goal for Celtic has stood for almost 18 years as the last goal Barcelona conceded in European competition outside of the Champions League

With Barcelona now heading into the Europa League, somebody will have the chance to end Thompson’s record.