Wednesday’s 3–0 defeat would have been bad enough for Barcelona if this had just been another defeat to Bayern Munich, another game lost in the same way all the others have been, by a side bossing possession and being picked off on the break by smarter opponents. But far worse could be the financial consequences of a second successive group-stage exit from the Champions League, something that had already been confirmed when Inter Milan beat Viktoria Plzen 4-0 earlier in the day.
The wave of summer signings at Barcelona has not had the desired, immediate effect, and the impact could be devastating.