The Champions League draw was made on Friday morning and fans are adamant that it was put together to the benefit of one club in particular.
The draw, made in Nyon, Switzerland, featured the eight sides who qualified automatically from the inaugural league table and the remaining eight who advanced from the knockout play-offs which concluded on Wednesday.
Those who qualified automatically, are seeded and were placed in four separate pairs based off their league standing.
Advert
Table-topping Liverpool were grouped with second-placed Barcelona, third-placed Arsenal were linked with Inter Milan while Atletico Madrid were with Bayer Leverkusen and Lille and Aston Villa completed the pairings.
The pairs were then placed in one of two positions in the draw to end up in opposite sides of the bracket - with each team having two possible opponents for the round of 16.
The round of 16 set up another Madrid derby between Real and Atletico, an-all German clash between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, as well as Arsenal vs PSV, Liverpool vs PSG, Aston Villa vs Club Brugge, Borussia Dortmund vs Lille, Feyenoord vs Inter and Barcelona vs Benfica - the latter meeting in a rematch of one of the most eventful group stage fixtures.
Advert
Potential opponents for the quarter-final and semi-final were also mapped out but fans think the draw was incredibly kind to Barcelona, who are on the opposite side of the bracket to El Clasico rivals Real Madrid and also avoided English sides Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa, as well as PSG.
One fan on X commented: "Guess it’s Fixed for Barcelona to win!"
A second said: "Barcelona always have easy draws you can't convince me otherwise."
A third added: "Easy path for Barcelona of course."
Advert
A fourth fumed: "The path is set. Barcelona on the easy side of the bracket, shocker."
There is of course no evidence of any wrongdoing with the draw and the reactions are merely a conspiracy theory.
Barcelona's path to the Champions League final
Barcelona are five-time winners of the Champions League, with their last triumph coming as part of their 2015 treble win.
Advert
They finished second to Liverpool in the overall table and will now face Benfica in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, the Blaugrana will play the winner of Borussia Dortmund and Lille - and one of Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Feyenoord and Inter in the semi-final.
They will therefore avoid playing Real, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Arsenal until the final should they get there.
The showpiece will take place at Bayern's Allianz Arena on Saturday 31 May.
Topics: Champions League, Barcelona, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Fan Reactions, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain
Josh Lawless