5 Key Fixtures for Barcelona Fans to Focus on in 2016-17 Season

With the 2016 UEFA European Championship and the Copa America, it has been a football-filled summer, and there isn't too long to go before the new season starts.

Barcelona have been doing fine work in the transfer market, and their fans will be anxious to see how the new players bed in during the pre-season friendlies.

Once the remaining weeks fall away, the season will be upon us. Here are the five games that Barcelona fans will already be thinking about.

5. Barcelona vs. Sevilla (August 17, 2016)

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

This is the first competitive game of the season at the Camp Nou and also the first chance the club has to win a trophy. It's the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup.

The first leg is in Seville on August 14, but whatever happens in that game, the overall outcome of the tie will be decided here.

Well, unless it goes anything like last season's clash when Barcelona were thrashed 4-0 away at Athletic Club in Bilbao in the first leg, rendering the second leg irrelevant. Irrelevant apart from Gerard Pique's red card for yelling at the linesman and subsequent suspension.

So Barcelona fans can be forgiven for looking a little nervously at the clash with Sevilla and will hope that this year things end up going their way.

Of course, they beat Sevilla in both the Copa del Rey final and the European Super Cup last season, so that goes in their favour.

It will also be an interesting game because the Andalusian side have a new coach, former Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli, and many will be intrigued by how he sets up his team.

This is a good time to face Sevilla as the Argentinian boss is still getting used to the club and his players, but they could also be quite unpredictable.

With Real Madrid facing the same opposition in the European Super Cup a few days earlier, Barcelona will also want to better their archrivals' result.

4. Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid (September 21, 2016)

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

Barcelona's La Liga campaign gets off to a relatively easy start, with a home game against Real Betis, followed by an away clash against Athletic Club, then a home match against Alaves and an away fixture against Leganes.

While heading to the Basque Country in the second week won't be easy, the first true test comes in the fifth gameweek of the season, when Barcelona welcome Atletico Madrid to Camp Nou.

This is their first game against a title rival, and going up against Diego Simeone's teams is never easy.

Barcelona fans will hold a grudge against Atletico for what happened towards the end of last season in the Champions League, when the capital club knocked the Catalans out in the quarter-finals.

It set Barcelona on a tailspin and nearly caused them to lose their footing in La Liga as well, although they eventually recovered and triumphed.

If they want to do so again in 2016-17, they will have to better Atletico, who will be looking forward to testing themselves against the league's best side.

3. Barcelona vs. Real Madrid (December 4, 2016)

Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press

This is the first Clasico of the season and a fixture that not only all Barcelona and Madrid fans look for, but most football fans across the globe.

It comes around a bit later than in previous years, when it was played around the end of October or in November, although it is still probably a bit too early to call it a Christmas cracker. Don't bet against some people doing that, though.

Barcelona were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid when the teams last met, so there is a score to settle on that front, and while they won the double, Madrid's Champions League trophy put the Blaugrana's own achievements somewhat in the shade at the end of last season.

But regardless of context, Barcelona against Real Madrid is always going to be one of the games of the season.

2. Real Madrid vs. Barcelona (April 23, 2017)

Daniel Ochoa de Olza/Associated Press

Of course, there are plenty of other games that will be important for Barcelona. Trips to the Mestalla and Anoeta to face Valencia and Real Sociedad, respectively, have been tricky in the past and will cause concern for fans.

After they play in the Champions League this year, almost all of Barcelona's next La Liga games are away from home, which is also something supporters have noted.

But in terms of sheer importance, the Clasico will always be up there. And more so than in the first battle, Madrid will be out to punish Barcelona at home, at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona humiliated Madrid 4-0 in front of their own fans last season, and despite the revenge they managed in Catalonia, Madrid will feel the onus is on them to punish Luis Enrique's side and show Madridistas that the table has turned.

This clash happens on Matchday 33, so fairly late in the season, meaning that on top of bragging rights and pride, it could be a match that decides the destiny of the title.

1. Champions League Final (June 3, 2017)

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Admittedly, Cardiff isn't the most glamorous venue for the Champions League final. But that will be an irrelevance to the club's supporters if they can lift the trophy once again.

Real Madrid took it off them last season, beating Atletico in the Milan final as Barcelona supporters watched on from home, green with envy.

The goal this season has to be conquering Europe again, although, as Luis Enrique said, he wants to win everything, per Sport's Julio Smith.

Few clubs can be so arrogant as to think about the Champions League final before the season has kicked off. But, along with Real Madrid, Barcelona have earned it.

Winning four of the last 11 trophies is an astonishing feat not paralleled in modern football, so it is quite reasonable for Blaugrana supporters to wonder if they will be heading to Wales come June.