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Barcelona are set to face AC Milan yet again in the Champions league after being down with the Italian team in the group stages of the competition.

They faced Milan only in the last season's quarter-final, while this was not the only match between the two clubs in recent seasons. Even though Barcelona have come out on the successful side more often than not, super star Lionel Messi said that it was a difficult draw indeed. Barcelona will also have matches against Ajax and Celtic, who are their other group opponents.

Barcelona will undoubtedly be the favourites to qualify from the group along with Milan, but Messi reckons that is not as easy as it sounds. Messi saw him being beaten by Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery for the title of the best midfielder in Europe for 2012-13. Rather than be disappointed with the outcome, Messi praised Ribery by saying that he was indeed the best midfielder in Europe last season, while Bayern Munich are also the best team in Europe. Bayern Munich went on to win the Champions league last season and they also beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate during the process.

Despite this, Barcelona come into this season's competition as the favourite along with Bayern Munich.

"This season's group will not be easy, but we are looking forward to some good games. You don't get any easy groups, but this is a nice one. We played Milan and Celtic last season, and it is our first time against Ajax. It will be a difficult group. Bayern were superb last season and better than Barcelona. But hopefully this season we can do better. When you play for a club like Barcelona, the only option is to try and win it all," said Messi.

Despite being an average season, Messi still scored 46 goals in the league alone for Barcelona last season.