FC Barcelona will be appearing in the Europa League after a gap of 19 years as they are set to take on Napoli in the first leg of their round of 32 clash at the Camp Nou on Thursday.
The La Liga giants were knocked out of the Champions League after the group stage this year. Placed in Group C, Barcelona finished third behind Bayern Munich and Benfica with just seven points from six matches.
This was the first time in 21 years that the five-time Champions League winners failed to make it into the knockout stage of the competition. The last time they failed to do so was during the 2000-01 season under the captaincy of Pep Guardiola.
The Catalan club last played in Europe's second-tier continental competition back in the 2003/04 season when it was called the UEFA Cup. They made it to the UEFA Cup after finishing sixth in La Liga in the 2002-03 season.
Back then, they were knocked out of the tournament from the Round of 16 after they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Celtic. The Scottish club won the first leg at home and managed to hold the Spanish side to a goalless draw in Camp Nou. Ronaldinho was Barcelona’s top scorer in the competition with four goals to his name.
Let us take a look at how Barcelona performed in the Europa League the last time.
FC Barcelona’s performance in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup/Europa League:
DateRoundResult24/9/03First Round (First leg)Matador Puchov 1-1 Barcelona (D)15/10/03First Round (Second leg)Barcelona 8-0 Matador Puchov (W)6/11/03Second Round (First leg)Panionios 0-3 Barcelona (W)27/11/03Second Round (Second leg)Barcelona 2-0 Panionios (W)26/2/04Third Round (First leg)Brondby 0-1 Barcelona (W)3/3/04Third Round (Second leg)Barcelona 2-1 Brondby (W)11/3/04Fourth Round (First leg)Celtic 1-0 Barcelona (L)25/3/04Fourth Round (Second leg)Barcelona 0-0 Celtic (D)
Who were the top goalscorers for Barcelona in UEFA Cup 2003/04
PlayerGoalsRonaldinho4Javier Saviola3Luis Garcia3Patrick Kluivert2Luis Enrique2Xavi Hernandez1Philipp Cocu1Thiago Motta1