For the first time in nearly four years, Barcelona and their supporters eagerly awaited to see who they would face in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
In the end, it turned out to be a familiar foes as the Catalan side were paired up against Paris Saint-Germain.
It will be a homecoming of sorts for the Parisian side as they are managed by former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique. In their ranks is also Ousmane Dembele who chose to leave this past season despite still having one year left on his contract.
"They have a coach who we know very well from here," said Barcelona's vice-president Rafa Yuste. "We have to put body and soul into this, and we hope the fans will help us to do that."
On paper, the draw figures to favor PSG but it certainly isn't the worst team Barcelona could have been paired up with. They know what it's like to beat PSG and vice versa.
🚨 The players have not celebrated when the PSG ball came out, but they are far from unhappy with the fate of the draw. @alexpintanel
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 15, 2024
"It will be a difficult game," said Fermin Lopez. "PSG are a great side, but we'll do everything we can to get the win."
He went on to single out Ousmane Dembele and, of course, Kylian Mbappe as standout players.
These two sides have faced one another a number of times over the recent years with the most memorable result being the remontada where Barcelona came from 4-1 down to win 6-5 thanks to a late goal in stoppage time by Sergi Roberto.
The last time these they met was back in 2021 in the round of 16 where PSG won 5-2 on aggregate. Mbappe had a great showing in the first leg at the Camp Nou. In the return fixture, Lionel Messi scored the only goal but created a number of other chances that were squandered that could have potentially made the tie much closer than it turned out to be.
It also ended up being Messi's last Champions League game with Barcelona.
As mentioned, it's not an unlucky draw for Barcelona given they avoided Manchester City and Bayern Munich. Should Barcelona go through, they would meet either Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals.
The first leg will be in Paris at the Parc des Princes on April 10, with the second leg held at the Montjuic Stadium in Barcelona on April 16.