Champions League: Barcelona Brave a Roaring Parc des Princes

Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona

After a gruelling campaign, the last eight remain in the Champions League, and the entire football world is glued to the 2021 rematch between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona.

Luis Enrique and his French outfit will be the gracious hosts for the first leg of their quarterfinal bout against Xavi’s Barcelona.

PSG are obviously keen on repeating their first leg performance against Barca in 2021, but that will be a tall order. Xavi and his outfit have been nothing but resilient this season, braving the toughest of adversaries amidst their injury troubles and Xavi’s impending departure.

Talking Points

Frenkie de Jong might return against PSG

Barcelona have been at the forefront of injury reports due to a handful of key players missing in the rotation. Luckily for Xavi, his players are generally trending in the right direction.

Pivotal cogs like Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, and Andreas Christensen are all in the middle of their rehabilitation, but in the latest Champions League 2024 updates, all three players have been involved in Barcelona’s training activities in recent days.

Because of their involvement in training activities, Barca fans are holding their breaths to find out if these key players will feature in their seismic matchup against Paris Saint-Germain.

But among those three players, it’s Frenkie de Jong who is the furthest along in his rehab and the most probable player to make his return at Parc des Princes.

There is still no actual confirmation of de Jong’s availability during their Champions League quarterfinal clash, but having the Dutchman back on the field would certainly pay dividends for the Catalan side, especially against a demanding team like PSG.

“It’s a very tough opponent, one of the most difficult ones we could have faced. I know Luis Enrique; he’s a brilliant coach, and his teams are very well prepared. They are one of the worst opponents we could have drawn, but we have enthusiasm and hope to have a great quarter-final. It’s two games, and the home leg is a positive point for us,” Xavi stated.

Despite their injury-riddled campaign, Barcelona have still produced strong results in the Champions League and in their domestic league to boot. This has a lot to do with the emergence of their young talents, and SBOTOP football fans can expect Xavi to once again rely on his young guns to keep the Catalan ship afloat against PSG in a hostile Parc des Princes.

Lee Kang-in could get the starting nod

Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele have been the tip of the spear and the hilt of the sword for Enrique’s system, and there’s no reason to expect that PSG will stray away from their deadly 1-2 combo.

The question is: who will join Mbappe and Dembele in PSG’s final third during their crucial clash against Barcelona? Well, recent reports have stated that former Mallorca star Lee Kang-in has the edge over Kolo Muani and Ramos to start against Barca; however, nothing is set in stone.

Meanwhile, PSG golden boy Kylian Mbappe is locked in, and it seems like the 25-year-old is ready to wreak havoc on the visiting Catalan side.

“The tie against Barça? The time has come for the great players, and I am prepared for it. As usual, I’m not going to hide,” Mbappe exclaimed.

I don’t know about you, but that’s the last thing I’d want to hear from Mbappe if I was the opposing outfit.

He added “Every year, this period is a turning point in the season. At the end of April, we will have an indication of the type of season we are going to have. I’m sure we will give everything, and then the result… it’s in God’s hands!”

History

Who could forget their iconic Round of 16 bouts back in the 2020–21 iteration of the Champions League? In that matchup, PSG toppled Barcelona with a 5-2 win on aggregate. PSG came out of the gates hot, demolishing Barca with a 1-4 win during the first leg, then proceeded to keep the Catalans at bay with a thrilling 1-1 draw in the return leg.

In total, these European giants have faced each other 11 times since 2012. In those matchups, PSG have won three, while Barca have claimed victory four times and tallied four draws to boot.

There’s no shyness about goal-getting when these sides clash, as they’ve managed to score a total of 43 goals in just 11 clashes, splitting the goal tally pretty evenly, with PSG scoring 20 and Barca scoring 23.

Betting Tip

The Champions League 2024 betting odds have both sides priced relatively close to each other, which is expected; it’s the UCL quarterfinal after all.

For this match, PSG are the slight favourites at 1.99, which poses as my betting tip as well. I personally favour the healthier and more in-form PSG over an injury-riddled Barcelona any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

To make the deal even sweeter, their upcoming clash will be held in front of a roaring French crowd at Parc des Princes, which could be the X factor for PSG to take the lead before heading into the second leg.

Barcelona are right there with 3.32 as the underdogs, but the draw price of 3.36 is more enticing for punters to consider.

 

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