FC Barcelona already knows its first rivals in the fight to win its third Champions League title. The current European champions will be in group A and will begin the defense of the throne against Rosengård, Benfica and Eintracht.
The Blaugrana will repeat two of the rivals they already faced in the group stage last year, Benfica and Rosengård, although they have managed to avoid Paris Saint Germain, the toughest rival they could face. A favorable draw for the Catalans, who already comfortably beat the Portuguese, giving them a 9-0 in the Johan, and the Swedes, who were also beaten 6-0 in Barcelona.
On the other hand, it will be the first time they face Eintracht, the penultimate team with the lowest coefficient in the entire draw. They qualified for the Champions League as third in the Bundesliga behind Bayern and Wolfsburg and had to play three previous rounds to reach the group stage. The German team has been able to eliminate much stronger rivals on paper such as Juventus and beat Sparta Prague.
Real Madrid, who could not be paired with FC Barcelona because they are from the same country, have been placed in group D and will face Chelsea, Häcken and Paris FC, the revelation of the previous phase. Alberto Toril's team have reached the group stage after beating Norwegian Vålerenga in the previous round. This will be the third European participation for the white team whose best participation was the quarterfinals of their debut year, in which they lost precisely against FC Barcelona.
The big surprise of this edition has been the elimination of the current European runners-up, Wolfsburg, who fell at the hands of the humble Paris FC, now the Madridistas' rival. By finishing in the Bundesliga behind Bayern, the 'wolves' had to play the previous round that gives access to the group stage, where they were not able to overcome the French, who won by an aggregate of 3-5. He has not been the only 'big' who has been left out in an edition in which Arsenal, Manchester United and Juventus will not be present either.
The path that culminates on May 25 in San Mamés (Bilbao) is already beginning to be drawn. The group stage will start on November 14 and 15, with the order of matches yet to be determined, and will run until the end of January. Barça intends to host the big matches, the quarterfinals (March) and semi-finals (April), at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, and it remains to be seen if it will also do so for some of the most attractive matches of the group stage.
FC Barcelona
Rosengard
Benfica
Concord
O. Lyon
Slavia Prague
St. Polten
Fire
Bayern
Paris Saint Germain
AS Roma
Ajax
Chelsea
Real Madrid
the hedge
Paris FC
