At 8:00 p.m. Beijing time on December 13, UEFA will hold the Europa League knockout play-off drawing ceremony, and the third place in the 8 groups of the Champions League and the second place in the 8 groups of the Europa League will compete for the remaining 8 places in the round of 16. Barca, which has played in the Europa League for the second time in 21 years, has a 6-out opponent, and the promotion to the round of 16 is not a 10-9.
This season's Europa League knockout rounds have been adjusted, 12 groups have become 8 groups, the first team in each group is straight to the round of 16, the remaining 8 seats will be generated through the play-offs, and the draw follows the principle of avoidance by the Football Association.
8 Europa League group 2nd (seeded teams):
Real Sociedad (La Liga), Real Betis (La Liga), Braga (Portuguese Super League), Dinamo Zagreb (Liga), Olympiacos (Greek Super League), Glasgow Wanderers (Super League), Lazio (Serie A), Napoli (Serie A)
8 Champions League third places (unseeded)
Sevilla (La Liga), Barcelona (La Liga), Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga), Leipzig (Bundesliga), Porto (Portuguese Super League), Zenit (Russian Premier League), Atalanta (Serie A), Sharif (Moore United)
Therefore, for Barca, potential opponents in the play-offs include Braga, Dinamo Zagreb, Olympiacos, Glasgow Rangers, Lazio, Napoli and other 6 teams. Among these potential opponents, the stronger teams are naturally Serie A teams Lazio and Napoli, after all, they are the teams of the five major leagues.
Lazio can not reach the top four in Serie A this season, Napoli once led the table for more than ten rounds, and once won 8 consecutive wins in the opening game, currently ranking 4th in the Serie A table, the state and strength are stronger than Lazio, so if Barca draws Napoli, it will be an absolute next signing.
According to statistics, the two teams have only met in the round of 16 of the Champions League in 2019/2020, when Barca drew 3-1 at home and 1-1 away to Napoli.
At that time, Barca still had Messi, and now without Messi, the team can't even score in the Champions League knockout rounds. In the previous group stage, Barça had 6 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses, ranking third in the group with 7 points, which was the second worst Group Stage result in the Champions League in the history of the team, only 5 points in the 1997-98 season.
This season Barça in La Liga did not qualify for the top six, the Champions League group stage out, now qualified for the Europa League play-offs, there is no absolute hard power and confidence can easily pass, there is no small possibility will face early exit, after all, now this Barca strength can not easily beat the opponent playing in Europe.