Barcelona Learn Champions League Fate

You couldn’t make it up.

Barcelona learned their Champions League fate this evening and were drawn into a tough Group C that included Viktoria Plzen, Inter Milan, and none other than German champions Bayern Munich.

That means an immediate return to his old stomping grounds for recent Barcelona summer signing Robert Lewandowski.

Lewa may have reasonably expected never to visit Bavaria again. Instead, he faces his old side just weeks after having left them. It is a tough group for the Catalan giants, and Bayern will prove the sternest test of all. Bayern infamously inflicted an 8-2 mauling on Barcelona two seasons ago, a defeat that scarred cules forever and more or less brought the golden Messi era to a crashing, devastating close. Revenge may well be on the minds of many at Barca, and no doubt Robert Lewandoskwi would love to get one over on his old club. It will be a mouth-watering, titanic clash that may well decide qualification from the group.

Inter Milan are no strangers to the competition, of course. The Blaugrana most recently play the Nerazzurri three seasons ago when Ernesto Valverde’s men triumphed both home and away.

Viktoria Plzen are champions of the Czech Republic and making a rare appearance in the Champions League. Barca most recently played them in the 2011-12 group stages, again winning both home and away.

Let’s hope for more of the same this time around.

The full draw can be viewed below.

Group A: AFC Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers FC

Group B: FC Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge

Group C: FC Bayern, FC Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen

Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting CP, Olympique Marseille

Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic FC

Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen

Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa