Barcelona’s Unfavourable Champions League Records Reemerge Ahead of Matchup With Antwerp

• Barcelona host Belgian club Royal Antwerp in their UEFA Champions League campaign opener
• The La Liga club have experienced a poor run in the competition in recent years
• An unpleasant statistic about the Catalan club has resurfaced ahead of their clash against Antwerp

Barcelona begin their 2023/24 UEFA Champions League campaign against Belgian club Royal Antwerp with the hope of a much better campaign than they have recently experienced.

In the last two seasons, the La Liga club have witnessed themselves drop into the UEFA Europa League after consecutive third-place finishes in the group stages.

As reiterated by coach Xavi Hernandez in his press conference ahead of his fixture against Marc Van Bommel's Antwerp, the goal of the Catalan club remains to successfully qualify from the group stages to the round of 16, as reported by Goal.

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The current La Liga Champions' inability to secure passage from the group phase of Europe's prestigious club football competition has drawn a keen look into the activities of the club on the continent, and a surprising statistic has popped up, which will not please many at the club's hierarchy.

Barcelona's poor UCL record resurfaces

Since the departure of former captain Lionel Messi in the summer of 2021, the Blaugrana have only secured four victories in their 12 UCL fixtures played within that period.

As reported by Sofascore, two of the victories have been against Czech Republic side Viktoria Plzen, and the other victories were a pair of narrow one-nil wins against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv.

The woes suffered by Xavi's side in the UCL are further marred by their failure to capitalise on their giant status in the Europa League, where they got to compete.

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The Blaugrana have faced two quarter-final defeats against Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester United. Both defeats have resounded the club's need to strengthen its squad to compete on Europe's elite stages.

Fans of the club will hope the new additions to the team, including Joao Felix and Cancelo, will translate to an overall smoother European campaign for Xavi's side.

Xavi names Barcelona's surprise UCL ambition

Sports Brief reported on Barcelona kicking off their 2023/24 UCL season with a home clash at the Estadio Municipal Lluis Companys against Belgian champions Royal Antwerp.

The Catalan club, who have won the competition on five different occasions, have struggled to replicate the performances they showed on course to clinching titles in recent years.

Barcelona have not made it out of the group stages of the elite European competition in either of the last two editions, and manager Xavi is looking to change that tune going forward.