That's what happens when people exaggerate to make a point.
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Dose anyone have a list of how many times huge club like us didn't get out of the group stages?.
I've only used examples where clubs would probably be expected to progress, based on their ranking. In the earlier days there was first a straight knock-out, then only one team progressed with best 2nd places, so lots of teams went out. More recently it is easier to distinguish flops.
Earlier format:
Milan 1996/97 (finished 3rd)
Barcelona 1996/97 (finished 4th)
Two qualify format:
Milan 1999/00 (finished 4th)
Rangers 2000/01 (finished 3rd)
Juventus 2000/01 (finished 4th)
Barcelona 2000/01 (finished 3rd)
Lazio 2001/02 (finished 4th)
Liverpool 2002/03 (finished 3rd)
Bayern Munich 2002/03 (finished 4th)
Inter 2003/04 (finished 3rd)
Lazio 2003/04 (finished 4th)
Man Utd 2005/06 (finished 4th)
Juventus 2009/10 (finished 3rd)
Manchester City 2011/12 (finished 3rd)
Manchester United 2011/12 (finished 3rd)
Manchester City 2012/13 (finished 4th)
Chelsea 2012/13 (finished 3rd)
Juventus 2013/14 (finished 3rd)
Less shocks in the later 00s, probably due to financial inequality, then in this decade a spate of them again. With the exception of Man Utd in 11/12 most of those were directly against teams who are also pretty well off, varying from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich to Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray.