BarcelonaThe road to Wembley, the leg of Barça’s first and fourth European Cups, starts well. The Blaugrana club came to the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco hoping to get off to an easy start, continue their Champions League streak and end a disappointing two-year streak in Europe in which they didn’t progress past the group stage And he was lucky . Their opponents in the group stage will be budget Portuguese Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Antwerp. The reigning champions of La Liga and Spanish Super Cup are aware he still has an issue that defies him.
The continental competition is the big upcoming milestone for the project of Xavi Hernández, who after two appearances could not reach the round of 16 of the top European competition and suffered heavy defeats in the Europa League against Manchester United and Eintracht Frankfurt that Barça hadn’t had since 2004 had denied.
Barça’s rivals
Now there are no more excuses. The Terrassa coach’s team is sure to advance to the round of 16 after a slight draw. The Catalans start Group H as big favorites a priori, luck that hasn’t been seen in years. Barça have benefited from pot number two rivals Porto, avoiding giants like Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, runners-up in the English Premier League, or Inter Milan, finalists of the last edition and one of Barça’s executioners, in the group stage last season . The Catalan club couldn’t add the three points to Giuseppe Meazza as the referees weren’t the most correct. Barca then failed to go from a draw to three in a fateful night at the Camp Nou that partially prompted the mid-season departure of Gerard Piqué following an individual error on one of the Italian goals.
Nico González’ Porto, who did without Xavi this summer; the Shakhtar Donetsk of ex-Blaugrana Dmitró Txigrinski, who will be relegated to Hamburg this year because of the war in Ukraine, and Antwerp, a newcomer to Europe with familiar faces – ex-Blaugrana Mark van Bommel (the coach) and Marc Overmars (the sporting director) – make up the list of Barça’s opponents in a league that starts on September 19 and 20, the dates of which are yet to be confirmed.
Real Madrid, the highlight of every year
The white team, sunk in pot number two, could have seen faces at last Champions League champions Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain or FC Bayern Munich. Eventually, he will avoid figures like Haaland or Mbappé and meet Napoli, the brand new Scudetto champions 33 years after the last time Diego Armando Maradona was in his ranks. Sporting de Braga and Union Berlin will be their other two opponents. In short, a draw that, under normal circumstances, shouldn’t cause Carlo Ancelotti’s players any trouble.
On the other hand, to qualify for the round of 16, PSG will have to work up a sweat with Luis Enrique by falling into the group of death: Borussia Dortmund, Milan and Newcastle will be the rivals to beat. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, on the other hand, will have it much easier as they meet Leipzig – another year -, Red Star Belgrade and Swiss Young Boys. Bayern Munich must fight for first place with a renewed Manchester United. Moreover, Sevilla have been drawn into a difficult group that will also feature PSV Eindhoven, Arsenal and Lens, while Real Sociedad are aiming for a place in the top 16 in Europe in a group where they face Benfica. Inter Milan and Salzburg.
