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Barcelona have been drawn with Bayern Munich, SL Benfica, and Dynamo Kiev for the group stage of the upcoming 2021-22 Champions League season. The draw took place on Thursday night in Istanbul.
Barcelona's last encounter against Bayern Munich was in the knockout stages of the 2019-20 Champions League season. The Bavarians beat Barcelona in emphatic fashion to register an 8-2 win.
Speaking to Barca TV about his club's draw for the upcoming Champions League season, Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said:
“I think it’s a tough group. Talking about Bayern Munich, a really strong team, a team that won two years ago, and Barca lost that day, a big result. They have really good quality players, they have a new coach, Nagelsmann, it’s really nice to compete with them."
Koeman is not ruling out a threat from his former club SL Benfica either.
“The second one is Benfica. In history, it’s like one of the biggest clubs in the world. I was lucky to have one season as a coach over there and it’s really a great club. I saw their last match against PSV in Holland, a draw which is a good result it’s a strong team.”
The other team in the group is Dynamo Kiev. They are always a tough away fixture for any team in the Champions League. Koeman said:
“Dynamo Kiev, we know because we had to play last season against them. They have developing young players, we have to analyse those teams and see what we can expect.”
Barcelona are entering a new era in the club's history
Barcelona have had a tumultuous summer so far. It began with the club's negotiations proceeding at an extremely slow rate with Lionel Messi.
When the terms were finally agreed upon, a new rule introduced by La Liga prevented Barcelona from extending the contract of their club legend due to financial restraints. The footballing world watched in awe as Lionel Messi parted ways with Barcelona after 18 years.
Leo's departure has left a gaping hole at Barcelona. With Messi gone, they will have to find a new talisman, a new captain, a new goal-scorer and a new creator.
Many fans have tipped Barcelona's new signing Memphis Depay to take up Messi's scoring mantle at the club. However, he will need the support of the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Ansu Fati to even think about coming close to Messi's numbers for Barcelona.
