Barcelona will face Napoli in the Europa League. How was their last starting XI like when they last featured in the competition 18 years ago?
Barca will start a new adventure in the Europa League, by facing Napoli in the first leg of the knockout playoffs on Thursday afternoon.
The Blaugrana started their journey in Europe this season by appearing in the Champions League. However, they only finished in third place in Group E behind Bayern Munich and Benfica, thus being evicted to the Europa League.
Later, the winner of the Barcelona vs Napoli duel will qualify for the round of 16, to meet the winners of this season's Europa League group.
The last time they appeared in the second tier of European club competition was almost 20 years ago, namely in 2003/2004, when the competition was still called the UEFA Cup.
Finished in 6th place in the Spanish LaLiga the previous season, Barcelona featured the 2003/2004 UEFA Cup from the first round.
However, their journey was short-lived by only reaching the fourth round, aka the last 16, after losing 0-1 on aggregate to Celtic.
The Spanish club lost 0-1 in the first leg at home, and could only draw 0-0 at Camp Nou in the second leg, which was their last match in the Europa League.
Who was Barcelona's starting line-up in their last game in the Europa League and how are they doing now? Here's the review
Goalkeeper � Victor Valdes
Victor Valdes continued to be Barcelona's main goalkeeper for the next 10 seasons, before suffering a serious injury and leaving the Blaugrana with a total of 535 appearances and a number of titles including 7 La Liga and 5 Champions League.
After playing for Manchester United, Standard Liege and Middlesbrough, Victor Valdes retired in January 2018 and was part of Barcelona's coaching team before leaving early last year.
Defender � Michael Reiziger
The match against Celtic was Michael Reiziger's last appearance with Barcelona in Europe. At the end of the season, the Dutch defender left for Middlesbrough and stayed for 2 seasons before moving to PSV and retiring in 2007. Currently, Reiziger is an assistant coach at Ajax.
Defender � Oleguer
Oleguer stayed at Barcelona for up to 4 seasons after appearing in the Europa League, then moved to Ajax. He lived with Ajax for 3 years before finally hanging up his boots. He actually left football and is now better known for his support for Catalan independence.
Defender � Carles Puyol
Carles Puyol was appointed Barcelona captain at the end of the 2003/2004 season and maintained that position until his retirement in May 2014, making 593 appearances over 15 seasons.
Defender � Phillip Cocu
Phillip Cocu left Barcelona at the end of that season and moved to PSV, before retiring with Al Jazira (UAE) in 2008. He went on to coach and lead PSV to win 3 Dutch League titles, although he is now unemployed after leaving Derby County in November 2020 .
Legendary Midfielder and Striker
Gabri
Gabri was released on a free by Barcelona in 2006 and joined Ajax, then moved again to Qatar and Switzerland. After retiring, he coached Barcelona's youth team and now coaches Lleida Esportiu, a Spanish fourth-tier club.
Xavi Hernandez
Xavi Hernandez continued to be a mainstay and was made captain in 2015, before leaving on a free to Al Sadd in the summer of 2015. He retired after 4 seasons with Al Sadd, and switched to coaching at a Qatari club.
Last November 2021, Xavi Hernandez returned to Barcelona as the new coach to replace Ronald Koeman, and will take charge of the Blaugrana this afternoon.
Gerard Lopez
Gerard Lopez left for Monaco in 2005, before returning to Spain playing for Recreativo and Girona, then retiring in 2011. After retiring, he coached the Catalan national team and Barcelona B.
Luis Garcia
Luis Garcia left Barcelona at the end of the season and joined Liverpool. After three seasons at Anfield, he traveled to Greece, Mexico, India and Australia and retired in 2016.
Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique hangs up his boots at the end of the season, just months after facing Celtic. He then turned to coach and led Barcelona B in 2008.
Having coached AS Roma and Celta Vigo, Enrique coached Barcelona in 2014 and presented a number of titles, including the 2015/2016 treble winner. He left the club in May 2017 and has coached the Spanish national team since July 2018 until now.
Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho menjadi andalan Barcelona hingga 4 musim berikutnya dan menghadirkan 2 gelar Liga Spanyol dan 1 Liga Champions sebelum pindah ke AC Milan pada 2008, di mana ia memenangkan 1 trofi Liga Italia.
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