Champions League Draw 2012: Outlining FC Barcelona's Group G Opponents

The 2012-2013 UEFA Champions League draw has ended. The result is that FC Barcelona is in Group G with Benfica, Spartak Moscow, and Celtic (via UEFA.com).

La Blaugrana will have its first match against Spartak Moscow on September 19 at Camp Nou. While the group is not a difficult one, it will be tough for Barca.

An outline of the Group G opponents for La Blaugrana is in order, starting with the first challenger, Spartak Moscow. The outline will continue in the chronological order of the first encounters between FC Barcelona and its Group G opponents. 

Spartak Moscow

Spartak Moscow is a team of the Russian Premier League (RPL) and has a UEFA ranking of 46.

The RPL team has played 108 matches in the UEFA Champions League (UCL), in which it has 38 wins, 27 draws and 43 losses. Spartak Moscow's last UCL match was against the Turkish team Fenertbahce in the second leg of the playoffs and resulted in a victory by aggregates.

Spartak Moscow has been in the third qualifying round of the UCL two times and the group stage three times recently.

The prominent members of Spartak Moscow are defender Evgeni Makeev and midfielder Diniyar Biyalletdinov. 

Benfica

Benfica and FC Barcelona will face each other on October 2 at the Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Portugal. It is not expected to be an easy match for La Blaugrana, with Benfica enjoying the advantage of playing at home.

Benfica has won the UEFA Champions League two times in the past. The club has played 199 matches in the UCL, winning 93 of them. The Portuguese club also has 46 draws and 60 losses in Champions League play. Benfice is ranked number 14 on the UEFA scale.

Recently, Benfica has been in the group stages of the UCL three times and the quarterfinals twice.

Celtic

Victor Wanyama, a Celtic midfielder, will probably face FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi when the two clubs face each other on October 23.

Celtic has won 70, lost 50 and had 24 of its 144 Champions League matches end in draws. Celtic is ranked 63rd in UEFA and has won the UCL title once.

The club, from the Scottish Premier League, has been in the UCL playoffs, group stage and third qualifying rounds once and in the Round of 16 two times within the last few years.

FC Barcelona

La Blaugrana has participated in 233 UCL matches, with 134 victories, 43 losses and 56 draws. Barca has won the UCL four times and is No. 1 in the UEFA rankings.

The club has greats such as Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Gerard Pique and Andres Iniesta, who collaborate with other players to produce victories.

While it remains to be seen what will transpire in the UCL, I am willing to predict that Barca will advance past the group stages and on to the finals, as always.