In the Champions League, clubs from the Premier League often dominate and of course it's a tough challenge for Barcelona because they have to fight clubs from the Premier League, one of which is Manchester City, who won last season.
Don't forget that there are clubs that are quite tough, namely PSG and Real Madrid, where there will always be tough competition in every season in the Champions League.
Maybe Xavi has prepared a team to bring Barcelona to compete, it's just that we don't know if they can last until the semifinals, based on the research I did from La Liga, Real Madrid will be stronger, not Barcelona.
I think it's only natural that Real Madrid is currently stronger than Barcelona, because Madrid is in fourth place with the most expensive squad at the moment. Meanwhile, Barcelona occupies position number seven, but this is not a benchmark and parameter. Because Barcelona has its own luck I see, in the midst of setbacks they created consistency so that they won the La Liga championship trophy last season. It's possible that next season they can do it again amid Madrid dominance, at least we can see the strength of the two teams when El Clasico takes place in La Liga.
I think all teams that have recruited new players will experience ups and downs in their performance at the start of the season, because they will certainly encounter various challenges during their adaptation period.