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The incredible 8-year curse that worries Barcelona in the Champions League

The Catalan side will begin their journey in the knock-out stages this Wednesday.

By Darwin Largo

They've had problems.

For Barcelona, the Champions League is the only option to win a title this season. They failed in the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey, while in La Liga they are eight points behind leaders Real Madrid and it seems impossible for them to catch Los Merengues. So if they want to celebrate anything this year, they will have to win the toughest club tournament in the world.

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That will not be an easy mission, considering that the team's performance in recent months has been far from expectations and the results have been disappointing. So much so that coach Xavi Hernandez announced that he will leave once the season ends because he believes that this is the best thing for the club. With this scenario, it seems difficult for them to compete with other European giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Inter.

However, this Wednesday Los Blaugranas will start their way in the knock-out stages of the tournament with the hope that things will change and they will be able to show a better level. Their opponents will be Napoli in Italy, last champions of Serie A but in the midst of a crisis due to poor results this season. That is why it might be a perfect opportunity for the Catalan side.

But to do so, Barcelona will have to put an end to an eight-year Champions League curse. The last time they won an away game in the round of 16 of the European competition was in 2016, when they beat Arsenal 2-0 in London with two goals from Lionel Messi. In the following five seasons they lost once (0-4 vs PSG) and drew four others (1-1 vs Chelsea, 0-0 vs Olympique Lyonnais, 1-1 vs Napoli and 1-1 vs PSG). And in the last two editions they did not even reach the round of 16, as they were eliminated in the group stage.

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They have one thing going for them

Despite this terrible eight-year statistic, Barcelona have reason to be hopeful of advancing to the quarterfinals. After the match in Italy, they will play the second leg at home. And of the last 17 times this has happened in the last 16 of the Champions League, only once have they failed to advance. That was in 1993, when they lost to CSKA Moscow.

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