Champions League quarter-finals qualification after four years
It's done. The win for FC Barcelona against Napoli in the Champions league round of 16 return leg sees the blaugranes through to the last eight of Europe's premier club competition. This is the first time since 14 August 2020, precisely three years, six months, and 27 days ago - in other words 1,306 days. Now the blaugranes will feature as one of the eight best teams in Europe.
The journey has been difficult since that last time in the quarter-finals in the 2019/20 season, which was unusually a single match against Bayern Munich due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following season, 2020/21, saw Barça lose in the round of 16 against PSG, while the past two seasons saw the blaugranes compete in the Europa League after finishing third in the group stage.
Time to start another good run
Before this four season hiatus from the Champions League quarter-finals, FC Barcelona created history in the competition, playing 13 quarter-finals in a row from 2008 to 2020, a record still to be broken in Europe.
Almost five years since the last home game in the quarter-finals
You have to go further back to find the last home game in quarter-finals, when the Spotify Camp Nou hosted a Barça 3-0 Manchester United on 16 April 2019, a brace from Leo Messi and one by Philippe Coutinho confirming qualification for the semi-finals, after having already won 0-1 at Old Trafford, albeit the blaugranes would go out to Liverpool in the next round.
The scenario is different this time. The magic mountain Montjuïc will have to help the team progress in Europe's premier club competition. The dream is to reach the big final on 1 June 2024 at the familiar venue of Wembley.