The Paris Saint-Germain team with Kylian Mbappe will face Barcelona in the first leg of their important Champions League quarter-final match on Wednesday. This is the latest chapter in the growing rivalry between the two clubs.
This will be the fifth time these teams have been drawn against each other in the knockout stage of Europe’s top club competition in the last 12 seasons. In the past meetings, there was a memorable encounter in 2017.
In the first leg, PSG won 4-0 at home, but then suffered a 6-1 loss in the return leg against a Barcelona team coached by Luis Enrique.
Luis Enrique, who used to coach Barcelona, is now in charge of PSG. He joined the Qatar-owned club ahead of this season with the task of achieving European success.
Luis Enrique mentioned that playing against Barcelona in this fixture is very different for him, given his history with the club as a player and a coach. He highlighted his professionalism and focus on his job and team at PSG.
“But I also played against Sporting (Gijon, where he began his career) and scored goals for Barcelona.
“At the end of the day, I am a professional. Of course, I like Barcelona but I am pleased to be here at PSG and I must think about my job and my team. I think I’m capable of bringing trophies to this club,” he added.
PSG have never won the Champions League and had gone out in the last 16 in five of the last seven years before reaching the last eight this time by beating Real Sociedad.
The 2017 meeting between the teams had significant consequences.
In response to their humiliation in 2017, PSG signed Neymar from Barcelona a few months later for a world-record fee of 222 million euros ($264m at the time).
Following this, Barcelona spent all of that money, and more, in an attempt to rebuild their team.
Among the players they signed was Ousmane Dembele, who initially cost 105 million euros from Borussia Dortmund.
Looking ahead to last year, Dembele was sold to PSG for just 50 million euros, leaving Barcelona in a financially strained position as a continental force in recent seasons.
Their financial difficulties led to the departure of Lionel Messi in 2021, who then joined Neymar for a two-year stint in Paris.
Barcelona is starting to perform well again.
Shortly after Neymar’s arrival, PSG also signed Mbappe, who has become the club’s all-time top scorer and will almost certainly leave for Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of this season.
Mbappe scored an impressive hat-trick in the first leg in Barcelona when PSG beat the Catalans 5-2 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2021, which was the most recent match between the clubs.
He has scored 39 goals this season and seems to be especially motivated to win the Champions League with his childhood club before he departs.
PSG did not perform convincingly in the group stage, just managing to reach the last 16.
However, they have not lost in 27 games in all competitions since early November and have aspirations of achieving a treble by winning the Champions League, Ligue 1, and the French Cup.
Barcelona, on the other hand, have not been defeated in 11 matches since coach Xavi Hernandez, who played with and under Luis Enrique at the club, announced his plan to leave at the end of this season.
The five-time European champions are reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2020, when they were heavily beaten 8-2 by Bayern Munich in a match played without spectators in Lisbon, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are in our best form but we are playing against a team designed to win the Champions League and we are facing one of the best coaches in Luis Enrique,” Xavi told reporters.
Barcelona are hoping that midfielders Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, who have both been dealing with injuries, will be able to participate in the game, while PSG are missing influential right-back Achraf Hakimi because of suspension.
“All those who have travelled will be able to play, as long as there are no surprises,” Xavi said of his squad.
The second leg will take place in Barcelona next Tuesday, April 16, with the winners progressing to a semi-final against either Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.
AFP
