City embrace romance of Barca tie

SCOTT Booth has welcomed Glasgow City’s Women’s Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona, saying it is every player’s dream to line up against the legendary Spanish club.

The first leg will be in the Catalonian capital on October 17 or 18, with the return game in Glasgow on November 1.

City head coach Booth (pictured), who was on the bench at the Camp Nou when his then side, Dortmund, played Barcelona in the 1997 Uefa Super Cup final, said: “We’re happy with the draw. All the eight seeded teams are top, top sides, but there’s a little bit of romance about playing Barcelona.”

The Spanish club were the fourth-highest ranked team in yesterday’s last16 draw in Nyon, and reached the semi-finals of a competition dominated by French and German sides in 2016-17.

“I’ve watched them online already, and it goes without saying they’ve got some really good players,” Booth said.

The Spanish side finished second to Atletico Madrid in last season’s Primera Division and have won all three games in the current campaign.

The first leg in Catalonia will be played in the middle of a crucial domestic week for Booth’s side. They play Hibernian in a semi-final of the SSE Scottish Women’s Cup on October 14 and then travel to Spain before returning to meet Hibs again in the penultimate SBS SWPL1 game on October 21.

Both sides lead the table with 53 points apiece and the league game will almost certainly be the title decider.