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UEFA have announced their decision to allow FC Barcelona to participate in the 2023-24 Champions League. The club, despite finishing as the La Liga champions in 2022-23, saw their place in the European cup competition in jeopardy because of the Negreira case.
Barca were accused of paying a hefty sum of money to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, vice president of the refereeing committee, in the last decade and were involved in legal proceedings as a result. That meant their participation in this season's Champions League was in doubt.
UEFA, though, have now released a statement, confirming that the Blaugrana are allowed to compete in the tournament. The statement read (via UEFA's website):
"FC Barcelona is provisionally admitted to take part in the 2023/2024 UEFA club competitions. A future decision on admission/exclusion from the UEFA club competitions is reserved."
Barca are five-time winners of the competition, with their latest triumph coming during the 2014-15 season. Following back-to-back group-stage exits in the last two seasons, they will hope to fare better this time.
Mikel Arteta and Xavi exchanged words after pre-season friendly between Arsenal and Barcelona
Arsenal managed a 5-3 win against Barcelona in their pre-season friendly in the United States on Wednesday (July 26) in what was a back-and-forth contest. The game marked Barca's first pre-season game ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Despite the game being a friendly, the two top European teams played out a really intense game. Barca boss Xavi pointed that fact out (via Barca Universal):
“The intensity that Arsenal put was not normal. Too many fouls for a friendly. I understand that everyone wants to win, but I told Arteta that it looked like a Champions League match. The intensity that they put was too high.”
Mikel Arteta hit back at Xavi's comments:
“At the end of the day, football belongs to the players. We’re playing in front of 70-80,000 people, and when it comes down to it, as soon as the game starts, they’ll rebel against the coaches and do what they want as soon as there’s the first foul, as soon as there’s the first game, they’ll start getting intense, and they’ll start playing.”
Barcelona and Arsenal will compete in the UEFA Champions League next season, so the intensity of their showdown shouldn't come as a surprise.
