FC Barcelona are the Spanish League Champions, and this status will have implications for the team beyond the bragging rights. For instance, the club will receive a heavy financial bonus for their victorious campaign and will also have some benefits going into the next season.
For the next season, one such benefit lies in the Champions League. As SPORT reports, being the Champions of Spain, FC Barcelona will not have to face other sides that have won their leagues in Europe.
Thus, the Catalans would avoid Manchester City, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint Germain, Benfica, and Feyenoord.
Avoiding Bayern Munich would definitely be a source of relief for Xavi and his team, as the Bavarian club has been instrumental in getting Barcelona eliminated only from the group stages in the last two editions of the tournament.
The club will also avoid facing a number of big clubs in pot 2, as it cannot be paired in a group with Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid, as these clubs belong to the same league. In this pot, Barcelona can still face other formidable teams like Manchester United, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Inter Milan, and Porto.
For pot 3, Barcelona would be paired with one of Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan, Salzburg, Lazio, or Red Star Belgrade. More potential opponents are yet to emerge for this pot, with most of the likely ones being Dinamo Zagreb, Glasgow Rangers, and S.C. Braga.
There are five confirmed teams in pot 4, but only four of them can face Barcelona in the group stage, including Celtic, Newcastle, Union Berlin, and Lens. Real Sociedad is the fifth team, but it cannot be paired with Barcelona because of the shared national league. Copenhagen, Galatasaray, and Young Boys are also likely to proceed from playoffs for this pot.
The draws for the group stage will take place on the 31st August, and the competition will begin on September 19th. The group stage will end on December 13th, and the knock-out rounds will start from mid-February 2024.
The pots for the upcoming edition of the Champions League are given below: (Teams with * have not been confirmed and have to pass a preliminary phase before entering the tournament)
Pot 1
- Manchester City
- Seville
- FC Barcelona
- Napoli
- Bayern Munich
- PSG
- Benfica
- Feyenoord
Pot 2
- Real Madrid
- Arsenal
- Manchester United
- Inter Milan
- Borussia Dortmund
- Atlético Madrid
- Leipzig
- Porto
Pot 3
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Salzburg
- Dinamo Zagreb (*)
- Rangers (*)
- AC Milan
- Sporting Braga
- Lazio
- Red Star (*)
Pot 4
- Copenhagen (*)
- Young Boys (*)
- Real Sociedad
- Galatasaray (*)
- Celtic
- Newcastle
- Union Berlin
- Lens
