FC Barcelona's road to Tbilisi

Next Tuesday 11 August the European Super Cup will take place in Tbilisi. Georgia between the current UEFA Champions League holders FC Barcelona and the current UEFA Europa League champions Sevilla. For the blaugranes the road to get here has been far from an easy one.

Barça began their European campaign last season drawn in the group stages of the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, Ajax and APOEL. Luis Enrique's team emerged top of Group F thanks to a record of five wins and a defeat. The first knock out round, the last 16, saw them come up against Premier League champions Manchester City. The Catalans came through the tie, winning both home and away against their English opposition, a 3-1 aggregate win seeing them safely into the last eight of the competition. In the quarter-finals they faced group stage opponents PSG once again. However, the Ligue 1 champions were no match for a Barça side who once more won both legs of the tie to make it to the semi-finals.

Bayern Munich promised to be their toughest test of the competition up until that moment. Luis Enrique's team came out on top in the first leg at Camp Nou and although they went down to defeat in Bavaria, a place in the final was theirs. On 6 June FC Barcelona claimed the Champions League title for the fifth time, beating Juventus 3-1 in a thrilling final in the Olympiastadion in Berlin.

Following a summer break the first team returned to action in pre-season with a tour of the United States. The blaugranes faced top quality opposition such as Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester United in order to help them prepare for the European and Spanish Super Cups. LA Galaxy, Fiorentina and AS Roma have also pitted their wits against Barça in pre-season with Luis Enrique's side now facing the challenge of claiming a fourth trophy this year.