Barcelona’s potential rivals in the Champions League Round of 16, including PSG, Inter Milan

Barcelona may have lost to Royal Antwerp in the final round of the UEFA Champions League group stage game, but their qualification was guaranteed much before the ball was even kicked off.

In fact, first place was guaranteed until Shakhtar Donetsk pulled something incredible out of their bag against Porto in Portugal itself, which, unsurprisingly did not happen.

As such, Barcelona have made it through to the round of 16 of this season’s UCL campaign — their first in three years, after two years of relegation to the Europa League.

Finishing top of the group has meant that Barça have avoided the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal, and Bayern Munich. But there are still tough teams to look out for that have finished second in the group.

FC Kobenhavn finished second to Bayern in Group A, and are in contention to face Barcelona in the round of 16.

They managed to outfox Galatasaray and Manchester United, winning two games, drawing two, and losing two; all while maintaining a goal difference of 0. This run of form also included a 0-0 draw against Bayern at the Allianz Arena.

Next up, PSV could be drawn against Barcelona after finishing runners up to Arsenal. They only lost one game in the group stages, 4-0 to the Gunners themselves. Led by a familiar face in Luuk de Jong, they are no minnows.

In Group C, Napoli secured ten points with three wins and a draw, only losing to Real Madrid on both occasions. Barcelona have met them on a few occasions in the past, and know they have to be taken seriously.

Real Sociedad managed to trump Inter Milan in Group D, which means last year’s finalists could be facing Barcelona. The Italian outfit put the Catalans to bed in the group stages last year, and are very much capable of repeating their exploits this season.

Their Italian peers, Lazio were the runners up in Group E, scoring and conceding seven goals each. This could be Pedro’s chance to meet his parent club for the first time since he was at Chelsea under Antonio Conte.

Arguably the most interesting matchup, though, would be if Barcelona drew PSG, who finished three points behind Dortmund in Group F courtesy of a 1-1 draw tonight. With both teams struggling, it would make up for a hell of a game.

Barcelona’s last potential matchup from the group stages could be RB Leipzig, who won four out of six games in a group with Manchester City. Spearheaded by a certain Xavi Simons, this game could promise a lot of goals.