Barcelona coach Pere Romeu said on Monday his team don't fear Bayern Munich and are ready to "compete like animals" as they kick off their Champions League campaign against the German champions on Tuesday
Three-time winners Barça welcome Bayern to the Estadi Johan Cruyff in one of the standout games of the first round of fixtures since the competition switched to the Swiss model league format, mirroring the men's tournament.
"We're up against a top-level team," Romeu said in the pregame news conference. "They were good last season. We played them a few years ago and you could see they're a team packed with great players.
"They attack and move well. [Georgia] Stanway drops close to the centre-backs and ends up close to the box. [Klara] Bühl is dangerous out wide with a good cross.
"They're a complete team. But they don't scare us, we're Barça and we're going out to compete like animals."
There has been a lot of focus on Barça's cost-cutting over the summer, with several players allowed to leave -- including Fridolina Rolfö, Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Jana Fernández -- and only Laia Aleixandri signed.
However, that has allowed youngsters like Sydney Schertenleib, Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Cámara to play more minutes, and Romeu backs Barça, who have reached the last five finals, to go far again.
"We still have a good team, top level players and the coaching staff to go all the way," he said. "This team will keep battling game after game in every competition.
"We have an excellent squad. The players that have come up [from the youth team] are really good. I don't know if we would find such good players on the market."
Barça were Champions League winners in 2023 and 2024 but were denied a threepeat when they suffered a surprise defeat to Arsenal in last year's final in Lisbon.
Defender Irene Paredes said the players will use that loss to motivate them in Europe this season.
"It's a new season and a new format, which motivates us," she said. "You don't forget about Lisbon, it hurt, of course. It was a really damaging defeat, but we will use it to make sure it doesn't happen again.
"We're hungry to start with a win. We are really looking forward to it. It's a format that demands you're at your best from the beginning."
As part of the new Swiss model, the competition has been expanded to 18 clubs, with each team playing six unique fixtures -- two against sides from pot one, two from pot two and two from pot three.
At the end of the league phase, the top four teams will advance straight to the quarterfinals, with the teams finishing between fourth and 12th progressing to a knockout round.
Barça, who have won all six of their Liga F games this season, begin the competition as one of the favourites, along with OL Lyonnes, Chelsea and holders Arsenal, but there is an expectation that other sides from England, Germany, France, Spain and Italy can bridge the gap this year.