FC Barcelona will be hosting the Belgian side Royal Antwerp tomorrow night at the Montjuic Stadium. This tie will see the Catalans open their 2023-24 campaign for the UEFA Champions League, which has been identified as one of the objectives for this season by Xavi and several players.
The Blaugranes have not had their most glorious years in the competition in the last few seasons but are clearly determined to overcome their traumas from the painful defeats in Lisbon, Rome, and Liverpool this time around.
Squad changes brightening Barcelona’s chances
As already reported here, the Catalans will be helped in this regard by the significant changes that have taken place in the squad in the last few years. Only Ter Stegen, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, and Inaki Pena remain from the squad, which lost to Bayern Munich 8-2 in 2020.
In fact, SPORT reports that the current squad boasts of eight players who have already won the Uefa Champions League in their careers.
European Champions in the current squad
Barcelona won the Champions League last time in 2015, and two players remain in the squad from this time, Ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto. These two are also the first two captains for Barcelona this season.
Roberto was also present in the squad, which won the 2011 edition of the Champions League, and had made his UCL debut in the quarter-finals against Real Madrid.
Furthermore, three players in the current squad won the Champions League with Chelsea. Oriol Romeu was with the Blues as they won the Big Ears in 2012. On the other hand, Marcos Alonso and Andreas Christensen won the Champions League with Chelsea in 2021.
Robert Lewandowski won the competition with Bayern Munich in 2020 and was a part of the Munich team that humiliated Barcelona in Lisbon.
Lastly, Gundogan and Cancelo, who arrived at the club only this summer, have also already tasted the glory of winning the Champions League. Gundogan was one of the main actors in Manchester City’s campaign as they won the trophy in Istanbul last season.
Cancelo was on loan at Bayern Munich at that time but was given the title because he had contributed with Manchester City in earlier stages of the competition.
