The possible rivals of Barça, Sevilla and Betis in the round of 16

These are the possible most complicated rivals of Barça, Betis and Sevilla, who will play the first leg at home, in the round of 16 of the Europa League, which are none other than the top eight classified from each group in the first phase of the competition, who enter this round of 16 draw as top seeds, and cannot face each other: Lyon Olympics (current number 22 in the UEFA ranking), Monaco (71), Bayer Leverkusen (31), West Ham (76), Moscow Spartak (61), Eintracht de Frankfurt (35), Star Roja (35) and Galatasaray (55).

Peter Bosz’s Olympique de Lyon, Barça’s rival so many times in Europe, the last one in the round of 16 of the 2018-19 Champions League (the azulgrana passed with ease), it is one of the theoretical bones for the azulgrana. Lucas Paquetá is currently his big star. A footballer who knows how to move between the lines, play with his back and has an arrival. Together with the 24-year-old Brazilian, figures such as Aouar, a talented midfielder who was famous for the Barça club in his day; experienced center backs like Boateng (ex Bavaria) or Denayer; and stars somewhat come to less like Moussa Dembele or Ndombele, which are bounced from Atlético and Tottenham. Also Leo Dubois, Cherki (now injured)… A serious team.

Along with Lyon, Leverkusen stands out, who already showed their claws in the group stage against Betis. He is number 31 in the UEFA ranking and has excellent players such as goalkeeper Hradecki; the central Tapsoba, Tah; frimpong, Demirbay (sanctioned after his clash with Fekir…) and the promising Wirtz (70 million euros of market value and one of the players with the most future in Europe). Watch out for Pablo Fornals and Declan Rice’s West Ham, who are lost in the UEFA ranking but would be a good level test. Barça would return to London after many years. One of his last trips was to the north of the capital to face Arsenal in the round of 16 of the 20117-18 season, when he eliminated Chelsea. The hammers, a traditional team, have Zouma, Soucek, Coufal, Issa Diop, Vlasic, Areola, Benrahma…

Something more affordable seems to be Cesc Fàbregas’s AS Monaco, in which the pretended Tchouameni plays, but also Golovin and former Sevilla player Ben Yedder, a real mouse in the area. Monaco is always a visit fondly remembered by Barça, who have won European Super Cups there and knocked out Klinsmann or Scifo’s Monaco in the group stage of the 1994 Champions League, when they were later defeated in the final in Athens by Milan .

Trapp or Kostic’s Eintracht Frankfurt (35 in the UEFA ranking); the Red Star of Dragovic, Mirko Ivanic or Piccini (37); Spartak Moscow (61) of former Sevilla player Quincy Promes; or Iñaki Peña’s Galatasaray and, beware, Arda Turan (55), where Marcao, the sensation Kerem Akturkoglu or the Romanian Cicaldau also play, also appears as an affordable rival.

What’s more, There will be Dani Olmo’s Leipzig, executioner of Real Sociedad, who is another of the coconuts in the draw, although they will not be able to face any of the three Spaniards in the round of 16, nor will Rangers, Porto, Braga and Atalanta.