Champions League: PSG vs Barcelona
Preview: PSG vs Barcelona
PSG vs Barcelona on Wednesday at 7:00pm at Parc des Princes is a matchup of the champions, as the French champions will battle the Spanish champions in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. Luis Enrique, who led Barcelona to a 4-1 aggregate win over Real Sociedad in the last-16, will face his former team. Meanwhile, Barcelona secured a 4-2 victory over Napoli in the previous round.
Paris Saint-Germain’s manager, Luis Enrique, will lead the French champions against his former team, Barcelona. Enrique was in charge of Barcelona during their historic comeback against PSG in March 2017, where they overturned a 4+ goal deficit. Now, he aims to guide PSG to their first semi-final appearance since 2020/21. Despite their strong performance in Ligue 1, PSG’s preparation for the first leg was affected by a 1-1 draw with Clermont, the last-placed team. This draw added to PSG’s recent run of more draws than wins at Parc des Princes and their defensive vulnerabilities were highlighted by just one clean sheet in their last five matches.
Barcelona is participating in their first Champions League quarter-final since August 2020 when they suffered a heavy 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich, their worst loss in the competition. However, they now have a chance for redemption as they come into the match against PSG in Paris with confidence, having won their last four games in a row, three of them without conceding a goal. This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams in the knockout stages of the tournament, making it one of the most frequently played fixtures. Barcelona have a good away record recently, being unbeaten in their last five away matches in all competitions, (winning three and drawing two.
Head-to-head
We all recall Barcelona’s incredible comeback in the last-16 stage of the 2016/17 Champions League, where they advanced despite a 0-4 loss in the first leg in Paris. However, four years later, PSG avenged that defeat by defeating Barca with a 5-2 aggregate score in the last-16 round of the 2020/21 Champions League.
Prediction
Barca has not played since the end of March, while PSG has had two tough matches in the Coupe de France and Ligue 1. This means the away side will likely have fresher players for the upcoming game at Parc des Princes. However, Parisiens coach Enrique rested some important players in preparation for the match against Barca. Given Barca’s recent focus on strong defense, it is predicted that Wednesday’s match will end in a draw, setting the stage for an exciting second leg in Catalonia.
