Crunch German encounters await Barcelona and Real Madrid ahead of El Clasico | OneFootball

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FC Barcelona got to know their rivals for the league phase of the 2024-25 edition of the UEFA Champions League yesterday on Friday. This will be the first time that the Champions League will be played with the changed format in which the group stage has been replaced by a league phase, in which every participating team will face eight opponents once.

Barcelona have some very intriguing matches coming up in this competition, as they have been drawn with Bayern Munich, Atalanta, Young Boys, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica, Red Star, and Monaco.

The most difficult match for the Catalans in this league phase will be the one against Bayern Munich, which will be their third match, and is scheduled to take place on October 23.

As Mundo Deportivo has noted, this match will be followed by another very difficult game for the Blaugranes, an El Clasico against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu, which is scheduled to take place on 27th October.

While Barcelona will face Bayern before this Clasico, Real Madrid will also be facing a German opponent before their Clasico clash, as they are set to play against Borussia Dortmund on October 22. The Merengues have already faced Borussia Dortmund a few months ago as they faced them in the UEFA Champions League final.

Thus, both teams will be coming into El Clasico after playing another hectic game. However, Barcelona will be on the shorter end of the stick as Bayern Munich are the better team, and the Catalans will also have one less day to rest as their match is on the 23rd of October, while Real Madrid vs Borussia Dortmund is on the 22nd of October.

Still, with the form that both the Spanish rivals have shown up to now in the season, there are a lot of reasons for the Blaugranes to hope for a win in this crunch match.