Barça close out gloriously chaotic Champions League group stage in second place

Wednesday night's Champions League action pitted Arsenal against Catalonia -- the English side played away to Girona, looking for the right combination of results to overtake Barcelona in the table.

At the beginning of play, it was advantage Barça in this duel, on a frenzied night of European football which saw 18 games played simultaneously as the competition's first season with the new 'Swiss league' style format came to a conclusion. The blaugrana took on Italian outfit Atalanta, who were aiming to secure their spot in the top eight, which comes with the prize of bypassing a playoff knockout round. 

In truth, there was relatively little to play for in Montjuïc, as Barça had already ensured their top eight finish before a ball was kicked on Wednesday. But on the line was the chance to finish in the top two, which would mean a seeded route to the final, as well as the inherent glory of finishing top of the league table involving all of the best clubs on the continent. 

It proved to be an enjoyable type of chaos following so many live games at the same time. In the Olympic Stadium in Montjuïc, the big screen showed live scores from across the continent in real time, giving fans more to get excited by, tracking all the permutations up and down the table, than the low-intensity first half played out on the pitch in front of them.   

Up north, Girona only had their own pride and enjoyment on the line, as their disappointing campaign came to a conclusion without ever really getting going. Míchel's side did get to enjoy taking the lead against one of the Premier League's finest outfits, but the Gunners came roaring back and took control of the game before half time, before closing out the 1-2 win. 

In truth, reaching the Champions League football was beyond all reasonable expectations for a team like Girona, and balancing only their fifth ever top flight campaign with an extended European calendar was always going to be a tough ask, especially for a team with no experience at this level.  

At the same time back in the Catalan capital, the first big gasp of the night came when Manchester City, managed by the FC Barcelona legend Pep Guardiola, went 0-1 down at home to Brugge -- with the goal assisted by another Catalan and former Barça and UE Sant Andreu striker, Ferran Jutglà. Guardiola's men got back on track and progressed with a 3-1 victory. 

There was a big cheer in the stadium when the screen showed Real Madrid to be losing, but this proved to be shortlived as the goal was chalked off.

After the restart, the game burst into life as Lamine Yamal scored his first ever Champions League goal in front of his home fans, but the encounter lacked the tension that would come with any real jeopardy.

An entertaining but sloppy second half saw the teams trade blows and eventually settle on a 2-2 stalemate in which both sides had enough half-chances to be able claim they could or should have won the encounter.

Barcelona knew that even a draw would likely be enough for them to finish second, as Arsenal needed to overturn a greater goal difference, while Atalanta battled hard to break into that top eight. Yet, the game never felt like it would amount to either side's biggest priority this month, with the prize so small and the calendar so packed. 

High ceiling

It's been some years since Barcelona sailed through a Champions League group stage with such comfort as they did in this campaign.

Before thrashing a poor Valencia team 7-1 over the weekend, Hansi Flick's side had been going through a historically bad run of league form, dropping to 7 points behind the La Liga leaders.

Despite this, it's still clear that Barça have a far higher ceiling than they have had in years, and have the potential to wear the European crown once again. 

So far this campaign the Catalans have beaten Bayern Munich 4-1, beaten Dortmund 2-3 away, and put nine goals past Real Madrid in two games. 

Hansi Flick's team finished the 2024/25 Champions League group stage in second, a fantastic result that can only point their ambition in one direction: to Munich on May 31.