Barça have a good opportunity this season to reach the round of 16 and get past the group stage. Something that he did not achieve in the last two campaigns. At least that is clear from the draw for the Champions League that took place this Thursday afternoon in Monaco. Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Royal Antwerp will be their rivals, a priori less powerful than Bayern, Inter and Viktoria Pilsen, who were their match last season.
Porto, coached by former international soccer player Sergio Conceiçao, has in its ranks well-known Barcelona fans. These are the cases of the young Nico, transferred this summer by Barça to the Do Dragao team, for 8.5 million, and the very veteran Pepe, a former Madrid player who is already 40 years old. Meanwhile, Shakhtar, with all the problems derived from the war with Russia, played their Champions League matches last season in Warsaw and will now play in Hamburg. In their ranks is the former Barcelona defender Chigrinsky, at 36 years old. As for the Royal Antwerp, it makes its debut in the competition. It is directed by ex-Barcelonista Mark van Bommel.
Neither can Real Madrid lament much, which was in the second drum and avoided Bayern and City, and was framed with the Italian champion (Naples), Sporting Braga and Union Berlin, which opens in the Champions League .
In the same way, Atlético can be satisfied because they were matched by Feyenoord, Lazio and Celtic. Real Sociedad and Sevilla will also have their options. The people from San Sebastian, on their return to the tournament, will face Benfica, Inter and Salzburg. The sevillistas will play it with the Arsenal, the PSV and the Lens.
The Champions League starts on September 19-20 and the league ends on December 12-13. The specific pairings of each day will be known at the end of this Friday or on Saturday morning, according to UEFA forecasts.
