Remote possibility of a UCL El Clasico exists as Barcelona and Real Madrid advance to the next rounds | OneFootball

FC Barcelona could only muster a draw against Atalanta in the last League Phase game of the newly formatted UEFA Champions League. As a result of the two points dropped on the night, the Catalans missed out on the chance to take advantage of Liverpool’s defeat and end the first phase as the table leaders.

Still, the Blaugranes have got a direct qualification to the Round of 16, something that is not the case for their biggest rivals in Spain, Real Madrid. The Merengues won their match last night against Brest, but still finished 11th, and thus will have to play a playoff round and win in order to advance to the next round.

With this turn of affairs, SPORT notes that the possibility of an El Clasico in the UCL is now alive only for the semi-final or final of the competition.

In the playoff game, Los Blancos will have to face either Manchester City or Glasgow Celtic. If they advance from this round, they will be facing one of Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Barcelona can face one of Paris Saint Germain, AS Monaco, Brest, or Benfica, who will also have to make their way to the Round of 16 after a playoff.

If these two sides make that far and are tied up against one another, there can be up to six El Clasicos this season. Two of these will be for the two La Liga ties, one of which Barcelona have already won, and one is scheduled for May. The two sides have also met in the Spanish Super Cup final, which the Blaugranes also won 5-2.

There is also the possibility of the two rivals facing each other in the Copa del Rey final. To these four matches can be added the two possible semi-final games, which means the two Spanish rivals can play against each other for a maximum of six times this season.