The Swedish teams cannot avoid Barça. The last two years, Rosengård has been drawn against the Spanish giant in the Champions League group stage, and now Hammarby will experience the same thing.
Besides Barcelona, English Manchester City and Austrian S:t Pölten are also included in group D.
"Big teams"
The toughest opponent on paper is definitely the star-studded Barcelona, with Swedish national team striker Fridolina Rolfö in the team. Barcelona has won the Champions League three out of the last four years and enters the tournament as a favorite once again.
It's a tough group. There are big teams, but it's going to be incredibly fun, says Hammarby's Norwegian striker Cathinka Tandberg to Aftonbladet.
For Hammarby, it's about a completely new challenge, as the reigning Swedish champions have never qualified for the Champions League before.
We know you can dream big, and we're going to go in with an attitude that we're going to beat Barcelona and City, says Tandberg.
Decided qualifying thriller
The road to the group stage went via a double meeting with Portuguese Benfica. After a 1–2 loss at home at Tele2 Arena, it looked tough for "Bajen", but through a strong 2–0 win away – Tandberg decided on added time – they still advanced.
It was a completely insane feeling. These are the kind of matches you dream of playing and deciding.
The group stage matches will be played between October 8 and December 18. The exact schedule will be presented on Saturday.
Group A: Lyon, Wolfsburg, Roma, Galatasaray.
Group B: Chelsea, Real Madrid, Twente, Celtic.
Group C: Bayern München, Arsenal, Juventus, Vålerenga.
Group D: Barcelona, Manchester City, S:t Pölten, Hammarby.
The group stage is spread over six matchdays: October 8/9, October 16/17, November 12/13, November 20/21, December 11/12, and December 17/18.
The two top teams will advance to the playoffs.
Quarterfinals: March 18/19 and 26/27.
Semifinals: April 19/20 and 26/27.
Final: May 23, 24, or 25 at Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon.
