PSG – Barcelona

PSG against Barcelona is the big derby of the night in the Champions League. The champions of France and Spain are facing each other at the Parc des Princes in Paris and everyone is impatient to see them going head to head in a spectacular football show.

When Unai Emery replaced Laurent Blanc at PSG during the summer, the main goal in front of him was clear – winning the Champions League. Something which Blanc seemed unable to do. Under Emery’s management, PSG are still unable to lead the Ligue 1 standings, but they didn’t have problems in qualifying for the Champions League 1/8-final. Now Unai Emery will have his biggest test in Europe with PSG so far.

Just like PSG, Barcelona are not performing at the best possible level in the Spanish La Liga. The Catalans are just one point behind Real Madrid in the standings, but in same time the Los Blancos have two games in hand. Something which could increase their lead to 7 points. There are speculations that Barcelona’s manager Luis Enrique will not continue with the team after this season, so Enrique will want to finish his time at the Camp Nou in the best way possible – winning the Champions League.

When Luis Enrique led Barca to Champions League glory in 2015, PSG was one of the teams who got eliminated by the Los Cules in the knockout phase. Now the French team will have the chance to avenge its loss two years ago, although Barcelona are labeled as a strong favourite to reach the 1/4-finals.

PSG will need a really strong performance in defense, if they want to stop Barcelona’s deadly attacking trio MSN. In same time, the French club will rely on Edinson Cavani at attack, especially after he scored two goals against Bordeaux in Ligue 1 during the weekend. Real Madrid’s former player Angel Di Maria is another player who will have to inspire PSG against one of the best teams in the world at the moment.