Introduction
1% chance, 100% faith. That was the caption of a picture that Barcelona player Neymar uploaded on Instagram. It was 4 years ago, what followed was the greatest comeback aka that night when Barca faced Paris Saint German in football history. Barcelona were 4-0 down in Paris. No one in their wildest thought had imagined Barcelona pulling off a comeback. Yet they did. Since then a lot has changed. The talisman Neymar, hero of the Remontada has changed sides. Albeit he’s out injured so that’s a bit anticlimactic. Tonight the Champions League returns and the best of the lot is Barcelona Vs Paris Saint-Germain.
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Build up
Both sides have injury headaches coming into the latter stages, with Philippe Coutinho and wonderkid Ansu Fati among those missing for the home side.
Barcelona –
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Boss Ronald Koeman is also set to be without their defensive duo, Gerard Pique and Ronald Araujo. Dutchman Frenkie de Jong could drop back to bolster the ranks.
Riqui Puig and Pedri are, in contrast, available to supply some young blood for the Catalan club. Moreover, the first leg most probably won’t feature Umtiti.
Predicted Lineup –
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé, Messi, Griezmann
Paris Saint German
Neymar is the big miss for the French champions. The Brazilian forward is also joined on the sidelines by fellow South American Angel Di Maria.
PSG’s creative burden will fall on the shoulders of Kylian Mbappé, who also, like Griezi, struggled at the start of the season. He is flying right now though. Defending him is the key to Barça getting a result. If Gerard Piqué confirms the rumours and plays on Tuesday, the Blaugrana’s chances improve.
Predicted Lineup –
PSG (4-2-3-1): Navas; Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Paredes, Gueye; Sarabia, Verratti, Mbappé; Icardi
Numbers
Barcelona and PSG go head to head in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. The last meeting ended with the following result: FC Barcelona 6 – 1 PSG.
-These 2 teams have met 8 times in the last several seasons based on the data that we have of them.
-Out of 8 previous meetings, FC Barcelona have won 4 matches while PSG won 2. 2 matches between them have ended in a draw.
Players to watch out for
Leo Messi –
This is a no brainer, if he’s playing then there’s no need to mention who to look out for.
Griezmann –
He had a shaky start to life at Barcelona, but right now he’s in sublime form. Surely, he’ll terrorise the PSG defence with his clever movement and touches.
Mbappe –
One of the fastest players around, he’ll make sure the Barca defence never get breathing space. A lot has been said about him already so there’s a nothing more to add.
Icardi –
In the absence of Neymar, the onus of the goalscoring especially falls on the able shoulders of Argentine Icardi. He needs to have a good game if Paris wants to salvage something from this.
Prediction –
We at Ball that Matters can’t think of a probable outcome of the game. But with some notable absence in the ranks of Paris. We are hence, tipping towards a narrow Barcelona victory.
Barcelona 2 – 1PSG
Conclusion –
This is the game. The game of this round. Hence, every eye will be stuck on this game and it will not disappoint us. It’s the Remontada rematch. Let’s see what happens.
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