24.11.2010 22:37
First place secured
www.fcbarcelona.cat
FC Barceona secured first place in Group D of the Champions League and will head into the next round.
The Blaugrana can now look ahead to their last game of the phase
against Rubin Kazan next month with no pressure on them after completing their task. Pep Guardiola
and his players now know that they will go into the draw for the first knockout round on December
17 in Nyon, Switzerland, as top seeds.
Seven years
Qualifying this term is the seventh consecutive time that FC Barcelona have
progressed from the group stage. On five of those occasions the team has gone through after winning
their group.
Once only
Only once since the turn of the century have Barça not competed in the Champions
League when they failed to qualify for the 2003/04 competition. The format of the event has changed
as the team went through as group winners to the quarter finals in 2000, 2002 and 2003 and met
Chelsea, Panathinaikos and Juventus, respectively.