FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.08.2008 12:15

Barça to meet Beitar or Wisla

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Barça now know what they have to do to qualify for the Champions League group stages – beat the winner out of Beitar Jerusalem or Wisla Krakow.

In the first leg, Beitar, the champions of the Israeli Ligat ha'AlEn, beat the Polish outfit 2-1.

The draw has also determined that the first leg will be played at the Camp Nou on August 12 or 13, and the return will be in Israel or Poland on August 26 or 27

Familiar rivals

FC Barcelona and last seasons champions of the Polish Ekstraklasa, Wisla Krakow, have met before, and in exactly the same Champions League qualifying situation as they are in now. That was in 2001/02, when the two teams fed us a veritable feast of goals in the first leg, Barça won 4-3 away and then confirmed passage to the all important group stages with a 1-0 win at the Camp Nou.

But Barça have never before played the side from the Holy City. In fact, they have only ever crossed paths with an Israeli club once, and that was in 1995, when they faced Hapoel Beer Sheva in the early rounds of the UEFA Cup. The Hebrew club was way out of its depth against the Catalans, and crashed out by a mighty 12-0 on aggregate.

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