FC Barcelona returning to Wembley for Tottenham Hotspur clash

Barça are on the way to Wembley. The first away game of the 2018/19 Champions League is a visit to London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday 3 October (9.00pm CET). And as work on the 62,062 capacity replacement for White Hart Lane has yet to be completed, Spurs will once again be playing their group stage matches in England’s national stadium.

And that means a return to the place where Barça have lifted the biggest prize in club football not once but twice – and the seventh visit in total to either the old or new versions of the iconic venue.

Barça at Wembley

1992 – European Cup Final – FC Barcelona 1 (Koeman) Sampdoria 0

Barça’s first ever game at the famous venue and also one of the proudest moments in club history when Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team at long last won the club’s first ever European crown.

1999 – Champions League Group Stage – Arsenal 2 (Bergcamp, Overmars) FC Barcelona 4 (Rivaldo, Luis Enrique, Cocu, Figo)

The only other time we played beneath the legendary two towers of the former Empire Stadium was in 1999, when due to the demolition of Highbury and work on the current Emirates Stadium, the Gunners took temporary residence at Wembley. This game was an action-packed corker!

2009 – Wembley Cup – FC Barcelona 1 (Bojan) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Livermore)

2009 – Wembley Cup – Al-Ahly 1 (El-Agazy) FC Barcelona 4 (Bojan, Rueda, Jeffren, Pedro)

The old Wembley is no more, and by the time of our next visit, it had been replaced by an ultra-modern stadium on the same site. Following a draw with the side we’ll be meeting at the same place this October, a squad featuring a large number of reserves defeated the Egyptian champions 4-1.

Due to a curious system, however, it was Celtic who would end up topping the four-team round robin group, even though Barça never actually played them!

2011 – Champions League Final – FC Barcelona 3 (Pedro, Messi, Villa) Manchester United 1 (Rooney)

And so to the fourth of Barça’s five European conquests, and the second at Wembley. The Catalans saw off Manchester United in the final, just as they had done in Rome two years earlier.

2016 – Friendly – Liverpool 4 (Mané, Mascherano (og), Origi, Grujic) FC Barcelona 0

Barça’s last visit to Wembley was for a preseason friendly two summers ago, and was also the club’s only defeat there.