SPORTS
Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona Champions League preview; predicted line-ups, team news.
Paris Saint-Germain host Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg on 10 March at 21:00 CET. This page will update with team news, quotes and expert analysis as kick-off approaches.
Paris vs Barcelona build-up
What happened in the first leg?
Kylian Mbappé happened. Paris’ precocious striker scored a hat-trick as the Ligue 1 side came from behind to rack up a 4-1 win and put a foot in the quarter-finals.
Form guide
Paris
Form: WWWLWW
Latest: Brest 0-3 Paris (French Cup round of 32), 06/03
Next: Paris vs Barcelona (UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg), 10/03
Where they stand: 2nd in Ligue 1
Barcelona
Form: WWWWDL
Latest: Osasuna 0-2 Barcelona, 06/03
Next: Paris vs Barcelona (UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg), 10/03
Where they stand: 2nd in Liga
Possible line-ups
Paris: Navas; Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Gueye, Paredes; Di María, Verratti, Mbappé; Icardi
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Mingueza, Lenglet, Umtiti/Araújo; Dest, De Jong, Busquets, Pedri, Alba; Messi, Dembélé
Expert predictions
Chris Burke, Paris reporter: It can’t happen this time, can it? As much as the ‘remontada’ has haunted Paris since 2017, the French side’s first-leg win did not just feel decisive – it felt devastating for their opponents. With Kylian Mbappé in goal-hungry form, key players returning to fitness and home advantage on their side, Mauricio Pochettino’s men will surely not collapse like their predecessors.
Graham Hunter, Barcelona reporter: The Spanish word ‘remontada’ became synonymous with Barcelona’s amazing win against Paris in 2017, but if Ronald Koeman’s side were to overturn a 4-1 first-leg deficit, ‘milagro’ (miracle) might be more apt. Barcelona are playing well, so a sensible aim in Paris might be a healthy result to mark what might prove to be Lionel Messi’s last UEFA Champions League match wearing Blaugrana colours.
View from the camps
Mauricio Pochettino, Paris coach: “The most important thing in football is to be optimistic and to fill others with optimism. We have to play a game in which we will need to be fully focused, even more so than in Barcelona. We will have to attack and to win the game. This is how we prepared this game and what we have said amongst ourselves.”
Ronald Koeman, Barcelona coach: “There’s always life in a game. It depends how we start the match, the energy that we put into it in order to make their lives difficult. It all depends on how efficient we can be. They showed that in the first leg, but we’re a side who always make chances. If we’re at our most efficient, nothing is impossible.”
