Barcelona’s Champions League berth confirmed, with Super Cup place on the line vs Girona | OneFootball

Barcelona’s victory over Valencia on Monday night proved a decisive one, when it comes to the club’s plans on the continent next season.

Xavi’s troops are of course fresh off a much-needed return to winning ways.

Still licking their wounds after being sent packing from the Champions League and seeing their La Liga title hopes brought to an end all in the space of a week, Barca welcomed the aforementioned Valencia to Catalunya’s capital.

And, when all was said and done, to their credit, secure a bounce-back result is precisely what the Blaugrana managed.

Frontman Robert Lewandowski proved himself the star of the show, adding to Fermín López’s early opener with a hat-trick, to seal an eventual 4-2 Barcelona triumph.

And, in the process, Xavi and co. officially booked for themselves a place in next season’s edition of the Champions League.

With one objective now complete, though, attentions behind the scenes at Barcelona will swiftly be shifted towards another.

Next time out, the Catalans are primed to make the short trip to the Estadi Montilivi, for a showdown with La Liga surprise package Girona.

Just two points currently separate the sides in the Spanish top-flight table, Barca boasting the advantage as things stand.

And Xavi and co. will no doubt be desperate to extend this gap ever further next weekend.

This comes with the fixture likely to play a decisive role in who finishes as this season’s La Liga runners-up, in turn joining champions-in-waiting Real Madrid in the next edition of the Supercopa de España.

Conor Laird | GSFN