A visit to one of the best stadiums in Europe and an expected return: the Barça draw in the Champions League

BarcelonaBarça now knows its first six opponents on its path to the Warsaw final, scheduled for the last weekend of May (28th, 29th, or 30th, with the specific day yet to be determined). After touching the sky in Oslo on Saturday, May 23rd, the 'blaugranes' are once again embarking on an exciting journey with the goal of lifting the fifth Champions League in the club's history.

This Friday, Nyon (Switzerland) hosted the league phase draw, which determined the fate of the eighteen teams that will participate in this year's edition. Alongside Barça, Real Madrid will also be present, and England (Arsenal, Chelsea, and Manchester City), France (Olympique Lyonnais, PSG, and Paris FC), and Italy (Juventus, Inter Milan, and Roma) are the countries with the most representatives.

Pere Romeu's team will face Arsenal –with the return to Barcelona of Ona Batlle and Mariona Caldentey–, Paris FC –whom they beat 0-2 on their home ground last season– and the Swiss side Servette at the Johan Cruyff stadium, and will have to visit the grounds of Bayern Munich –where they drew 1-1 last year in the first leg of the semi-finals–, Roma –which they also visited a year ago with a 0-4 victory– and the Danish side Koge.

Xavi Puig, the director responsible for the women's team, has highlighted the "excitement" with which they are approaching this new edition. "It has been a demanding draw. We already know that the best clubs in the world are here, but now we start from zero. There are great teams, great rivals, and everyone wants to win. We are Barça and our goal, as always, will be to compete, win and try to lift the Champions League trophy again", he said from Nyon, where he assured that it is a "privilege to be able to defend this title".

Real Madrid, for its part, will play at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium against PSG, Paris FC, and Inter Milan, and will play at the grounds of Bayern Munich, Roma, and Manchester City. Other notable duels are Olympique Lyonnais - Chelsea, Arsenal - Olympique Lyonnais, and Bayern Munich - Manchester City.

How does the competition work?

In the first phase of the league, each team will play three home games and three away games against two teams from each of the pots, and will earn points in a general standings table. The first matchday –with times and the order of matches yet to be determined– will be played on September 22 or 23, and the final duel of the league phase will be on Wednesday, December 16, in a unified matchday.

The top four teams will advance directly to the quarter-finals and are guaranteed to play the second leg at home, while those from fifth to twelfth (both inclusive) will play a preliminary knockout round between February 3 and 11. The last six teams will be eliminated from the competition.

The quarter-finals will be played between March 23 and April 1, and the semi-finals will be on the weekend of May 1 and 2 (the first leg) and the one of the 8th and 9th of the same month (the second leg). Finally, the final, which will be played at the National Stadium in Poland, in Warsaw, will be on May 28, 29 or 30, with the day still to be confirmed.