With the knockout stages of European football resuming in February, fans may be surprised to see Barcelona play on Thursday instead of earlier in the week.
The Catalan giants will be pitted against Napoli in a blockbuster, two-leg clash to qualify for a spot in the Europa League round of 16...
It's been a while since we've seen Barcelona play in Europe's secondary club competition, but there are plenty of reasons why Xavi Hernandez's men find themselves in this situation.
The Europa League will give the winner of the tournament a place in next season's Champions League. So Barcelona will have a lot of incentive to race for the trophy which will take them back to where the club hopes to be.
Why is Barcelona playing in the Europa League?
Barcelona is not having the best of the season.
They finished the Champions League group stage with a 3–0 consecutive loss at home to Bayern Munich, and then away to Benfica.
Two 1–0 victories over Dynamo Kiev in the group cellar were followed by a draw against Benfica, and another 3–0 loss against the German club. They finished third in their group with only seven points.
His home form was reflected in his poor performance in the Champions League, with manager Ronald Koeman sacked before the end of October. The appointment of Xavi came too late to save Barca's European campaign, with the club falling into the playoffs of the Europa League knockout rounds.
Results under Xavi have been promising but mixed, with the side hanging on to fourth place in the table. A top four finish in La Liga would be another way for Barcelona to guarantee Champions League football next season.
Has Barcelona ever played in the Europa League?
This is the first time since the 2003–04 season that Barcelona have not played in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
They have appeared in UEFA's second-tier competition 11 times before, in their previous iteration as the UEFA Cup (rebranded in 2009–10).
In the 2003–04 campaign, Barca were knocked out by Celtic in a 0–0 draw at home after a 1–0 loss in the outside leg in the UEFA Cup Round of 16.
Barcelona has never made it to the final of a second-tier competition (UEFA Cup or Europa League). They were UEFA Cup semi-finalists on four occasions, losing by one goal in each semi-final.
They were defeated by Liverpool on two occasions, in 1976 and 2001, as well as losses to PSV Eindhoven in 1978 and Bayern Munich in 1996. In all four years, the team they lost ended up lifting the trophy.
Who will win the europa league?
With teams knocked out of the Champions League having to go through the playoffs before reaching the Europa League round of 16, predictions are pretty tough.
Borussia Dortmund are seen by many as the favorite if they can overtake Scottish club Rangers with odds of +600. Europa League specialist Sevilla, who have to beat Dinamo Zagreb in their playoffs, have a similar margin.
Barcelona and Atalanta facing Olympiakos are seen as the most likely to win with odds of +800. Of the teams that advance directly from the Europa League group stage to the Round of 16, West Ham have odds of +1100, while Lyon are tipped to +1400.