Barcelona was dealt quite a challenge for this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage. Barca will feature in Group C this year, as it is set to meet Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, and FC Viktoria Plzen in the coming months.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich have plenty of history with each other from over the years. For one, the Catalan club came away with 3-0 defeats in both of its Champions League group stage matchups against the Bundesliga powerhouse last season. Barca has also met Inter Milan a multitude of times in the Champions League, while the side last faced off against FC Viktoria Plzen 11 years ago in the group stage of this competition.
In the big picture, Barca manager Xavi Hernandez sees that his squad has been handed a “very big challenge” for the opening half of this season.
“We have been drawn in a very difficult group, perhaps the toughest in the last 10 or 20 years,” Xavi said during a pre-match press conference ahead of Barca's La Liga home fixture against Real Valladolid.
“We are in a position to compete, we train hard and we have signed well. The goal is to go through and win the competitions we are playing. But we have been given a very big challenge.”
As Xavi touched on, Barca has completed several notable signings in the ongoing summer transfer window in an effort to revamp the squad. From bringing in Robert Lewandowski to coming to terms with Franck Kessie on a free transfer agreement, there are multiple new faces across the Barca locker room.
Barcelona will open up its Champions League group stage schedule with a home match against Viktoria Plzen next month.
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