Spanish giant Barcelona faces a new reality of competing in Europe's second-tier competition but will be thoroughly tested when Serie A title-chaser Napoli comes to town for the Europa League playoffs Thursday.
The Catalans crashed out of the Champions League in the group stages with just two goals scored in six matches. The arrival of Xavi Hernandez was not enough to revive the club's fortunes in a competition it has won five times.
A meeting with a Napoli side currently fighting for the Serie A title would be worthy of the continent's elite club competition, and indeed the sides met in the last 16 of the Champions League just two years ago.
Yet Barca instead faces a real challenge in this playoff tie just to make it through to the last 16 as it tries to salvage some pride in Europe and go all the way to the final in Seville in May.
"It is not a favorable draw. They are one of the toughest sides we could have faced, a Champions League-level team," Xavi said when the draw was made.
The Catalans, who lie fourth in La Liga a huge 15 points behind leaders Real Madrid, had appeared in the knockout rounds of the Champions League in each of the last 17 seasons, last missing out in 2003-04 when they played in the UEFA Cup.
Barcelona was not the only high-profile name to be knocked out of the Champions League prematurely, with Borussia Dortmund also dropping down into the Europa League.
The Germans will face Scottish champions Rangers with the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park as the home side wait to see if Erling Haaland will play.
The Norwegian, scorer of 23 goals in 21 games in all competitions this season, has missed Dortmund's last two outings against Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Sevilla also dropped out of the Champions League but that might suit a club that has won the Europa League or its predecessor, the UEFA Cup, a record six times including most recently in 2020.
It will also be driven by the prospect of going all the way to the final in their own stadium as it entertains Dinamo Zagreb in the playoffs.
There is English Premier League representation in the playoffs of the new Europa Conference League, with Leicester City taking on Danish outfit Randers.
Celtic will play the Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt who has not played a competitive match since wrapping up its domestic campaign two months ago.
"Bodo are similar to us when we go into our Champions League qualifiers as they are in preseason mode at the minute," Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou told Scottish media.
"That could potentially work both ways. We have the match sharpness, but they could have a freshness about them."
The Conference League features other former European champions in the shape of PSV Eindhoven and Marseille, who take on Israel's Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Qarabag of Azerbaijan respectively.
The second legs in both competitions will be played next week and, like in the Champions League, the away goals rule has been scrapped, meaning ties will go straight to extra time and penalties if level at the end of the return match.
