With the knockout stages of European football resuming in February, fans may be surprised to see Barcelona playing on Thursdays, rather than earlier in the week.
The Catalan giants will be lining up against Napoli in a blockbuster, two-leg clash to qualify for a spot in the Round of 16 … of the Europa League.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Barcelona playing in Europe’s secondary club competition, but there are plenty of reasons why Xavi Hernandez’s men find themselves in this position.
The Europa League will award the tournament winner with a place in next season’s Champions League. So Barcelona will be plenty incentivized to make a run for a trophy that will get them back to where the club expects to be.
MORE: How to watch and follow Barcelona vs. Napoli
Why is Barcelona playing in the Europa League?
Barca are not having the best season.
They kicked off the group stages of the Champions League with successive 3-0 defeats, at home to Bayern Munich, and then away to Benfica.
Two 1-0 wins over group cellar dweller Dynamo Kyiv were followed by a draw against Benfica, and another 3-0 loss against the German club. They only finished third in their group, with a paltry total of seven points.
The poor performance in the Champions League mirrored their domestic form, which saw manager Ronald Koeman sacked before the end of October. The appointment of Xavi came too late to save Barca’s European campaign, with the club dropping into the knockout round playoffs of the Europa League.
Results under Xavi have been promising but mixed, with the side hanging onto fourth place in the table. A top-four finish in La Liga would be another way for Barcelona to guarantee Champions League football next season.
MORE: Latest UEFA Champions League Round of 16 results
Has Barcelona ever played in the Europa League?
This is the first time since the 2003-04 season that Barcelona is not playing in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
They have featured in UEFA’s second tier competition 11 times before, in its previous iteration as the UEFA Cup (rebranded in 2009-10).
In the 2003-04 campaign, Barca were knocked out by Celtic in the UEFA Cup Round of 16 after following a 1-0 loss in the away leg with a 0-0 draw at home.
Barcelona have never made the final of the second-tier competition (UEFA Cup or Europa League). They were UEFA Cup semifinalists on four occasions, losing each semifinal by one goal.
They were beaten by Liverpool on two occasions, in 1976 and in 2001, as well as losing to PSV Eindhoven in 1978, and Bayern Munich in 1996. In all four years, the team that they lost to ended up lifting the trophy.
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Who will win the Europa League?
(Odds courtesy of DraftKings)
With the teams dropping down from the Champions League having to get through a playoff before reaching the Europa League Round of 16 proper, predictions are that much harder.
Borussia Dortmund are seen by many as the favorites, if they can get past Scottish club Rangers, with odds of +600. Europa League specialists Sevilla, who have to overcome Dinamo Zagreb in their playoff, have the same odds.
Barcelona and Atalanta, who face Olympiakos, are seen as the next most likely to win, with odds of +800. Of the teams that advanced from the Europa League group stage directly into the Round of 16, West Ham have odds of +1100, while Lyon are tipped at +1400.
Europa League outright winner odds
Asterisk denotes teams that have already qualified for the Round of 16 as Europa League group winners. Odds as of February 16.
| Team | DraftKings | Sports Interaction |
|---|---|---|
| Borussia Dortmund | +600 | +573 |
| Sevilla | +600 | +706 |
| Barcelona | +800 | +829 |
| Atalanta | +800 | +845 |
| West Ham* | +1100 | +1243 |
| Lyon* | +1400 | +1458 |
| Napoli | +1600 | +1663 |
| RB Leipzig | +1600 | +1458 |
| Bayer Leverkusen* | +2000 | +2079 |
| AS Monaco* | +2000 | +2083 |
| Lazio | +2500 | +2599 |
| Real Betis | +2500 | +2599 |
| Eintracht Frankfurt* | +2500 | +3419 |
| Porto | +2500 | +2599 |
| Real Sociedad | +3500 | +2603 |
| FC Zenit | +3500 | +3437 |
| Galatasaray* | +6500 | +6850 |
| Red Star Belgrade* | +6500 | +8120 |
| Spartak Moscow* | +6500 | +6870 |
| Olympiakos | +6500 | +8320 |
| Braga | +8000 | +8320 |
| Rangers | +10000 | +8720 |
| Sheriff Tiraspol | +10000 | +8720 |
| Dinamo Zagreb | +20000 | +15600 |
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism