A Comprehensive Guide to the Season’s Matches
After three years without a league title, FC Barcelona finally got their hands on a 27th La Liga trophy at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season.
Celebrations in front of their fans was a fitting way for the club to signal the end of an era as work began on renovations to their iconic Camp Nou stadium.
Signalling in the new 2023/24 campaign, FC Barcelona will attempt to defend their league crown away from their home of 65 years as they move temporarily to the 55,000-capacity stadium at the Estadi Lluis Companys.
Not just satisfied with returning to the top of the tree domestically, Xavi Hernandez’s side are also back in the UEFA Champions League and will have their eyes set on a first European trophy since 2014/15.
Combined with the Supercopa de Espana and Copa del Rey, it is set to be another busy season for the Catalan giants.
Key Highlights and Marquee Matches
FC Barcelona’s 2023/24 schedule started on August 13, 2023, as Blaugrana kicked off their La Liga defence with a goalless draw with Getafe.
It sparked a busy run of fixtures before their UEFA Champions League campaign commenced, with Barcelona drawn in Group H alongside Royal Antwerp, Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk.
One of the most hotly anticipated fixtures in world football is El Clasico in which FC Barcelona meet fierce rivals Real Madrid.
Jude Bellingham’s double helped Carlo Ancelotti’s side to a 2-1 win over FC Barcelona on October 28. Xavi Hernandez’s side will be hoping to avenge that painful loss on April 21, 2024.
El Clasico La Liga fixtures 2023/2024
- October 28, 2023: Barcelona v Real Madrid
- April 21, 2024: Real Madrid v Barcelona
Key to the success of defending their title will be games against 2021/22 winners Atletico Madrid. FC Barcelona entertain Diego Simeone’s side on December 3 and will visit the Civitas Metropolitan Stadium on March 17, 2024.
As is customary in La Liga, there will be a two-week winter break. FC Barcelona conclude their fixtures for the calendar year on December 20 when they host Almeria and their schedule resumes on January 3 away to Las Palmas.
May looks set to be a busy month with five league games to be played in just 21 days, beginning with an away game with Girona on May 5, 2024. FC Barcelona conclude their La Liga campaign on May 26, 2024, away to UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla.
The 2023/24 Supercopa de Espana sees the four most successful clubs in La Liga from the 2021/22 season travel to Saudi Arabia.
They are;
- Barcelona – 2022/23 La Liga winners
- Real Madrid – 2022/23 La Liga runners-up and Copa del Rey winners
- Osasuna – 2022/23 Copa del Rey runners-up
- Atletico Madrid – 2022/23 Copa del Rey runners-up
FC Barcelona will play Osasuna in the semi-final on January 11. The final will take place three days later on January 14.
La Liga Campaign
FC Barcelona’s La Liga campaign began on August 13, 2023, when they travelled to Getafe, a match which ended goalless.
Their toughest fixture of the early season came on August 27 against Villarreal, who finished fifth in the 2022/23 season. FC Barcelona won 4-3 and they followed that up with a 5-0 win over Real Betis, who were sixth-placed the previous term, on September 16.
The winners of the UEFA Europa League in 2022/23, Sevilla, always provide a tough test and Xavi Hernandez will be pleased to have emerged 1-0 winners on September 29. The reverse fixture, at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, takes place on May 26, 2024 – the final day of the league campaign.
Real Madrid won the first El Clasico of the season, with Jude Bellingham’s late goal securing a 2-1 win for Los Blancos at Estadi Lluis Companys on October 28, 2023. The defeat left FC Barcelona third in the table, four points behind Real Madrid, the league leaders. FC Barcelona will look to avenge the loss when the giants meet again on April 21, 2024, at Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Sociedad helped to light up La Liga last season as they clinched fourth spot and a subsequent UEFA Champions League place,, but on November 4 FC Barcelona secured an important 1-0 win at Reale Arena.
One of the most difficult fixtures for FC Barcelona to navigate comes on December 3 and March 17, 2024, when they play Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid. Another game to look out for is Barcelona versus surprise early pacesetters, Girona, which takes place on December 10.
The home game against Almeria on December 20 is FC Barcelona’s last fixture until January 3, 2024, when they travel to Las Palmas. Barcelona conclude January with a difficult match against Real Betis at Benito Villamarín Stadium on January 21 and a home match with Villarreal on January 28.
Xavi Hernandez will negotiate a busy spell between February and April, but several tough fixtures arrive in May, beginning with an away match against Girona on May 5 and a home game against Real Sociedad a week later.
Home Matches at Camp Nou
The 2023/24 campaign is unique in the history of FC Barcelona as for one season only they will play their home games solely at the Estadi Lluis Companys.
The iconic Camp Nou is currently closed to allow redevelopment work to take place. There will be a complete reconstruction of the third tier, which will allow the stadium’s capacity to grow from 99,354 seats to 105,000.
FC Barcelona played their first official game at their temporary home against Cadiz on August 20, 2023, winning 2-0.
The Catalan giants took little time to settle in at their new home as they thrashed Real Betis 5-0 in their next game, on September 16, and they backed up this supreme showing with another emphatic 5-0 in their first home game of the UEFA Champions League, which came against Royal Antwerp on September 19.
Home advantage counted for little as FC Barcelona lost 2-1 to Real Madrid in the first El Clasico of the season on October 28. They will hope for better fortune when they host Porto in their final home game of Group H in the Champions League on November 28.
Back-to-back home games against 2021/22 La Liga winners Atletico Madrid and early pacesetters Girona on December 3 and December 10 respectively already look crucial for Barcelona if they are to keep the pressure on their rivals at the top of the table.
FC Barcelona and Valencia have contested many entertaining games over the years and the home game against Los Ches on April 28, 2024, could prove pivotal to the former’s league title aspirations.
If they are still in the title hunt towards the end of the season, beating Real Sociedad (May 12) and Rayo Vallecano (May 19) could be vital.
Away Fixtures
FC Barcelona’s 2023/24 La Liga schedule began with a 0-0 draw with Getafe at the Coliseum on August 13, 2023, a result that may have sparked fears for the season ahead. But on their next away outing, at Estadi de la Ceràmica on August 27, 2023, they defeated Villarreal 4-3 with Robert Lewandowski amongst the goals.
The form of Lewandowski will be key as FC Barcelona look to string a run of important victories on the road, but Ferran Torres has particularly shone in away games, scoring in the 1-0 win at Porto in the UEFA Champions League on October 8.
Lamine Yamal became La Liga’s youngest goalscorer at 16 days and 87 days old as Barcelona came from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw with Granada at Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes on October 8.
In their final Group H game in the Champions League, Barcelona know a victory at Bosuilstadion – the home of Royal Antwerp – will almost certainly seal their progress in the competition.
Barcelona’s first game on their travels in 2024 is a trip to Las Palmas on January 3. On March 3, they will visit Athletic Club in what is a potentially tricky game and two weeks later visit Atletico Madrid at Civitas Metropolitan Stadium.
In a potentially season defining game on April 21, FC Barcelona visit Santiago Bernabeu in the final El Clasico encounter of the league season with Real Madrid hoping to do the ‘double’ over their great rivals.
Xavi Hernandez’s side face stern tests away to Girona and Sevilla on May 5 and May 26 respectively.
F.C Barcelona UEFA Champions League Schedule
FC Barcelona automatically qualified for the UEFA Champions League after winning La Liga in 2022/23 and were drawn in Group H along with Belgian side Royal Antwerp, Porto of Portugal and Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.
The UEFA Champions League 2023/24 Group H fixtures are as follows:
- September 19: FC Barcelona v Antwerp
- October 4: Porto v FC Barcelona
- October 25: FC Barcelona v Shakhtar Donetsk
- November 7: Shakhtar Donetsk v FC Barcelona
- November 28: FC Barcelona v Porto
- December 13: Antwerp v FC Barcelona
Should FC Barcelona progress in the tournament, they will find out their round of 16 opponents on Monday, December 18.
The Catalan club will hope to top their group in order to draw one of the clubs who finished a runner-up in their group.
Potential opponents could include;
- Manchester United
- Arsenal
- Napoli
- Inter
- Lazio
- Borussia Dortmund
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Newcastle United
- AC Milan
- Manchester City
- RB Leipzig
Having won the competition five times, FC Barcelona will feel this could be another historic year for the club.
Group Stage Matches
Drawn in Group H of the UEFA Champions League along with the Belgian Pro League champions Royal Antwerp, the runners-up of Liga Portugal Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk, recently crowned Ukrainian champions for a 14th time, FC Barcelona will be confident of progressing to the knockout stages of the tournament.
Having narrowly missed out on a place in the 2022/23 quarter-finals and boasting players such as Pepe and Mehdi Taremi, Porto undoubtedly represent their biggest challengers in Group H.
Shakhtar Donetsk caused one of the upsets of the Champions League so far with a 1-0 win over FC Barcelona thanks to Danylo Sikan’s first-half strike, a result the Ukrainian champions will take great confidence from.
FC Barcelona will be hoping to gain qualification from the group before the sixth and final game in order to give some of their players a rest and integrate some of the fringe players.
Knockout Stage Matches
A top spot in Group H of the UEFA Champions League should, in theory, mean FC Barcelona have an easier opponent in the round of 16 and that’s exactly what they will be targeting.
Joao Felix and Ferran Torres have so far proven important in FC Barcelona’s European campaign, with each player scoring twice and registering an assist.
They will be looking to continue their rich vein of form, but Robert Lewandowski will be hoping to start firing regularly in this season’s competition.
The 35-year-old has won the Champions League once – with Bayern Munich in the 2019/20 season – and will undoubtedly be desperate for a second taste of the prestigious trophy.
Should FC Barcelona make it through to the last 16, where they could meet the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, the Catalan club will need their key players in top form to help make a difference.
Champions League 2023/24 knockout fixtures will take place on the following dates;
- Round of 16: 13/14/20/21 February and 5/6/12/13 March 2024
- Quarter-finals: 9/10 and 16/17 April 2024
- Semi-finals: 30 April/1 May and 7/8 May 2024
- Final: 1 June 2024
The 2023/24 final takes place at Wembley, London.
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