Barcelona have suffered the ignominy of dropping into the Europa League for the first time since 2003-04, having only managed a third-placed finish in their Champions League group.
The troubled Spanish giants failed to make it through a Champions League group stage for the first time since 2000-01, finishing behind Bayern Munich and Benfica in Group E and scoring just two goals along the way.
While the Catalans boast a rich history in Europe, lifting the Champions League trophy five times, they have never won the continent's secondary competition in its guise as either the UEFA Cup or the Europa League.
Manager Xavi has already set his sights on ending that record as Barca look to make the best of a bad situation, and despite their troubles they will be many people's favourites to go all the way in their new competition.
However, a reshuffling of the tournament's structure this season means that Barcelona will enter the Europa League as an unseeded team, and must first get through a playoff round in order to reach the last 16.
The playoff round will be against one of the teams that finished as runners-up in their Europa League group, although they cannot face another Spanish team - which means that both Real Betis and Real Sociedad are off the table.
There are six remaining teams that Barcelona could be drawn against, though, including tricky potential fixtures against Serie A duo Lazio and Napoli.
Barca have played both of those clubs twice before, scoring seven goals without reply in two wins against Lazio and winning one and drawing one against Napoli.
Xavi's side could also be drawn against Olympiacos or Scottish champions Rangers, both of whom they have also previously faced twice, with a record of one win and one draw against both.
Barca have therefore never lost against any of their potential playoff opponents, having never previously faced the other two options - Braga and Dinamo Zagreb.
The draw will take place in Nyon on Monday at 12pm GMT - you can find out everything you need to know about the new Europa League playoff round and the draw by clicking here.
Barney Corkhill
