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Two soccer players celebrate a goal with enthusiasm on the field.

La Sexta is Closer: Another Drubbing Puts Barça in the Champions League Elite

The only drawback of the match was Cubarsí's injury, who required 10 stitches in his face.

Barça is taking positions. Today they scored five goals against Red Star as the away team.  They are already sixth and in the top zone of the new Champions League.

Out of the 36 participating teams, Barça is sixth, Real Madrid 18th, Atlético 23rd and Girona 29th. Barça maintains its position as the Spanish champions in the Champions League.

Íñigo Martínez, Lewandowski's brace, Raphinha and Fermín were the authors of the drubbing. There were five but it could have been twelve if they had wanted to.

soccer players in action during a match, with a goalkeeper on the ground and several players around the goal area.
Lewandowski on a hot streak. Another brace in Belgrade | Getty Images

At the moment, Red Star is no match for Barça. But the truth is that until very recently, anyone could have made things difficult for Barça in Europe, especially when playing as the away team.

In the new Champions League format, each team plays eight games, although not all play against all. A classification is established based on the results.

The top eight advance directly to the next phase.

Those ranked 9 to 24 will go through a repechage, where they will face each other in a two-legged format. The 8 teams that will compete against the top 8 will be chosen. Those ranked 25 to 36 will be eliminated directly.

The Drawback: Cubarsí's Injury

The bad side of Barça's game in Belgrade was the injury to Pau Cubarsí. He'll be out of action in the next few days and we'll see if he'll be able to play in the next matches.

Cubarsí put his head in the fight for the ball, competing with Spajic, who put his foot out. There was contact and Cubarsí ended up bleeding. His teammates became frightened and called for help.

Finally, the doctors determined that the injury wasn't serious, despite looking explicit. Cubarsí was replaced by Sergi Domínguez. Cubarsí left the field applying a gauze to his face, which was visibly stained with blood.

Later in the locker room, members of the club medical team applied 10 stitches to his face.

"He's had stitches but he's young," Flick said after the match. it's not clear whether he will be able to play in the next match against Real Sociedad on Sunday at Anoeta.

A soccer team posing on the field before a match, with players wearing black uniforms and a goalkeeper in a green uniform.
Barça kept the tone of recent matches in Belgrade | Getty Images

Technical data sheet

Red Star, 2 - FC Barcelona, 5

RED STAR: Ilic, Seoul, Djiga, Spajic, Krunic, Elsnik, Maksimovic (ilie, 73'), Silas, Rodic, Kanga (Dalcio Gomes, 72') and Ndiaye.

FC BARCELONA: Iñaki Peña, Koundé, Cubarsí (Sergi Dominguez, 66'), Íñigo Martínez, Gerard Martín, Casadó, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri (Fermín, 59'), Lamine Yamal, Raphinha (Olmo, 59') and Lewandowski.

GOALS: 0-1: Íñigo Martínez (13'); 1-1 Silas (27'); 1-2 Lewandowski (43'); 1-3: Leeandowsi; 1-4: Raphinha (53'); 1-5: Fermín (55); 2-5: Milson (78')

Referee : Esgas (Norway) showed Spajic and Ndiaye