Photo: EFE
The third time might be the charm. Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona face Belgian side Antwerp in the Champions League today (1:00 p.m.) and they face a simple challenge: reaching the last 16, something Barcelona have been unable to do in the past two seasons. Unfulfilled goals.
In these competitions, Barcelona finished third in the group stage and did not qualify for the direct knockout rounds. They won only 2 out of 6 games last season, both games against Czech side Viktoria Plzen.
But the feeling at the beginning of the course was different. Despite the smallest investment, Barcelona (3.4 million) has spent the least of all participants; Barcelona has assembled a guarantee team based on players who are about to end their contracts and other players, such as those who are on loan and need to prove if Ang Felix and João Cancelo.
It’s all thanks to emerging stars like Lamine Yamar, a world-class goalkeeper like German Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and all the reinforcements in the defence.
The Eurodance will begin against Antwerp, and the trainer is Dutchman Mark van Bommel, an old acquaintance of Barcelona fans, with another former Azulgrana (Mark Overmars) serving as technical director.
In the 2005-2006 season, Van Bommel won the Champions League with Barcelona, which was the only time he won the championship wearing a Barcelona jersey; Overmars played there for four seasons, from 2000 to 2004. Regardless, this will be the first European rivalry between the two clubs, and the second if you include the Fairs Cup match in the 1965-1966 season.
This will also be the first time Montjuïc has been used as a venue for a UEFA Champions League match. To date, Barcelona have only played one game at the Olimpico Stadium; that was during the 1996-1997 season due to the poor condition of the Camp Nou turf.
