FC Barcelona vs RB Leipzig Tickets

FC Barcelona are rightly considered one of the most successful sides in the history of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, but it did take the Catalan club a fair bit of time to get their first title on the board.

That came in 1991/92 when Johan Cruyff’s side edged past Sampdoria at Wembley Stadium in 1992. The Dutch boss then saw his side wiped out by AC Milan in the final two years later, and the first truly dominant Barcelona side came to fruition off the back of the legendary Argentine international Lionel Messi.

Messi played a part in Frank Rijkaard’s side, who won the UEFA Champions League against Arsenal in 2005/06, albeit he missed the final, during which Barca came from behind to beat the Premier League side in a heartbreaking finale.

The diminutive Camp Nou star was to play a far more expansive role in their subsequent successes during an all-conquering period when they were the best footballing side on the planet.

The first of these titles came in 2009 when Manchester United hoped to contain Messi and co. in Rome.

Pep Guardiola’s side gave Sir Alex Ferguson’s team something of a footballing lesson that evening. Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring after ten minutes and then pretty much controlled matters throughout, with Lionel Messi scoring a rare header from a Xavi cross to complete a 2-0 win.

Two years later, the two teams got to do it all over again, this time at Wembley Stadium. Now Manchester United were without Cristiano Ronaldo, and the pattern of the game changed a little, if not the overall outcome.

Pedro put FC Barcelona in front after 27 minutes, but Wayne Rooney equalized just seven minutes later. Incidentally, that effort was the only one on target Manchester United managed in the entire game.

In contrast, Guardiola’s side had 12 efforts on goal, and second-half finishes from Lionel Messi and David Villa saw Barcelona home as they secured a memorable 3-1 win.

In the subsequent three UEFA Champions League campaigns that followed, Barcelona were eliminated in the Semi-Finals twice and the Quarter-Finals once, to Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Atletico Madrid, respectively.

Luis Enrique took the team back to the final of the competition following strong knockout phase wins over Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich. They faced Juventus and saw off the Italian side 3-1 in Berlin.

Barcelona’s attack that season, comprised of Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez, scored a monumental 176 goals in total, with the trio netting a combined total of 122 between them. In the eight seasons that have followed that triumph, it would be fair to say that the club has stuttered a fair bit.

They have not reached the final again, as of 2023, and in both 2021/22 and 2022/23, they failed to even get out of their group, which would previously been unheard of.

RB Leipzig, who were only formed in 2009, are already developing a name for themselves in European action, despite their tender years.

Their first UEFA Champions League campaign came in 2017/18, and by 2019/20, they had made it to the Semi-Finals of the competition, losing to Paris Saint-Germain.

2020/21 saw them knocked out in the Round of 16 whilst in 2021/22, they put in a handy run in the UEFA Europa League, where they were beaten in the Semi-Final by Scottish side Rangers.

In 2022/23, they faced Manchester City in the Round of 16, drawing the home leg 1-1 before being humiliated by the Premier League side 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

FC Barcelona vs RB Leipzig Head-to-Head

Barcelona and RB Leipzig have never faced each other in competitive European action, which adds a nice gloss to the occasion.

FC Barcelona vs RB Leipzig Connections

A few players have represented both Barcelona and RB Leipzig, including Guinea midfielder Ilaix Moriba, Dani Olmo, and Xavi Simons.