Barcelona vs. PSG square off at Pac des Princes in Paris for a round of 16 matchup. The Catalans have already eliminated PSG in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions Football League the season 2014-2015 season (3-1, 2-0) and in the 2012-2013 season (2-2, 1-1), in this last case thanks to the away goals.
Barcelona go to Paris with the intention of getting a good result, as they get to play the return leg at the Camp Nou while looking to qualify to the quarterfinals of the competition for the tenth consecutive time and become the first team to achieve this feat.
Barcelona’s mood couldn’t be better: since early January the club has won eleven consecutive games, counting all the competitions and their trio of strikers firing onall cylinders.
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique will not be able to use the Javier Mascherano, Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan as they are all nursing injuries, but he can count on Gerard Pique who is finally healed and Rafinha, who will wear a mask to protect his fractured nose.
In the midfield, Barcelona will undoubtedly field Andrés Iniesta and Sergio Busquets to organize the Barcerlona midfield.
In the opposite side, his counterpart Unai Emery won’t be able to rely on a pair of midfielders Polish midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak is injured and Brazilian Thiago Motta is suspended. The good news for Emery is that he will probably have Argetine Javier Pastore, who was also nursing an injury, ready to play in the midfield.
Defenders Thiago Silva is recovering from an injury.
The Spanish coach will rely on his attackers, led by Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, to try to get a victory that has proven quite often elusive against Barcelona.
In seven games between these two teams dating back to 2012, the Spanish side holds the advantage as it has won three games, tied three and lost just once.
Barcelona is scoring an average 3.3 goals per match while allowing 0.67, whereas the French side scores on average 2.17 goals per game, while allowing 1.17.
