Barcelona vs PSG as it happened: Luis Enrique's men defy history to reach Champions League quarter-finals
Re-live all the action from the Nou Camp
Barcelona suffered an emphatic 4-0 defeat in Paris two weeks ago but outgoing coach Luis Enrique is confident his side can “score six” to advance in what would be the most remarkable second-leg comeback in the history of the competition.
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Your support makes all the difference.No team has ever overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit and Paris Saint-Germain won’t give up their advantage easily at the Camp Nou.
Barca have been off the pace this season, leading to Enrique to confirm he would leave at the end of the season, but they were back to their best on the weekend, scoring five goals against Celta Vigo – the amount that is required on Wednesday night.
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Vital Information…
The game kicks off at 7.45pm on Wednesday 8 March. BT Sport 2 will be providing coverage.
Form Guide…
Barcelona: WLWWWW
PSG: WWDWWW
Team news…
Barcelona have new injury worries for what could be Enrique’s final Champions League as their manager, with only defenders Jeremy Mathieu and Aleix Vidal remaining sidelined.
PSG have received a triple boost ahead of the game with midfielders Adrien Rabiot, Angel Di Maria and Thiago Motta all available and have travelled to Barcelona after recovering from their respective injuries.
Player to watch…
Lionel Messi. There are goals that need to be scored for Barcelona and Messi will be the centre of everything on Wednesday evening. Luis Suarez and Neymar will work off him but with the hosts needing at least four goals to take the game to extra time, you can be sure Messi will be in full attacking flow to ensure it happens.
Best stat…
Barcelona have progressed past the round of 16 in each of the last nine seasons, the longest run ever in the competition. The last time they failed to reach the quarter-finals was in 2006-07 against Liverpool.
Odds…
Barcelona to win: 8/15
PSG to win: 19/5
Draw: 19/5
And what about Unai Emery? Well, the PSG urged his side to tread carefully tonight and treat Barcelona with plenty of respect - regardless of their four-goal lead. Wise words.
"The confidence I have in my team is the same as that before the first leg in Paris, and the respect I have for Barça is just as big as I had before the first leg," he said.
"Our ambition is to produce a performance that follows on from that which we produced at the Parc des Princes."
Unai Emery
"If I've learned something in football, it's to always respect your opponent. I repeat myself: the respect we have for Barça must be the same as before the first leg. They're a great team.
"We have the chance to play a great match, in a great stadium against a great team. It's the kind of game that can enable a whole club to take a step forward."
Reason four hope? (See what I did there...)
Previous four-goal deficits overturned in European competition:
- 1961/62 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup first round:
- FC La Chaux-de-Fonds 6-2 Leixões SC, Leixões SC 5-0 FC La Chaux-de-Fonds
- 1984/85 UEFA Cup second round:
- Queens Park Rangers FC 6-2 FK Partizan, FK Partizan 4-0 Queens Park Rangers FC
- 1985/86 UEFA Cup third round:
- VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 5-1 Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid CF 4-0 VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach
Team line-ups:
Barcelona: ter Stegen, Rafinha, Umtiti, Pique, Mascherano, Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Messi.
Subs: Cillessen, Turan, Alcacer, Jordi Alba, Digne, Sergi Roberto, Andre Gomes.
PSG: Trapp, Meunier, Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Kurzawa, Lucas Moura, Rabiot, Matuidi, Draxler, Verratti, Cavani.
Subs: Areola, Kimpembe, Krychowiak, Pastore, Di Maria, Aurier, Ben Arfa.
1 min: Barca get proceedings under way and immediately look to put themselves on the front foot as they slowly creep forward into their opponents' half. After stringing the ball across the backline a number of times, a searching ball is pinged out to the right but it's over-hit and rolls out for a PSG throw-in.
GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 PSG (Suarez, 3 min):
The dream start for the home side! The ball was swung in from the right and PSG's defence looked like it simply didn't know what to do. A white shirt managed to get to the delivery first but the ball shot up dangerously before falling favourably for Suarez. The forward pounced with his head and nodded the ball over Trapp, with his effort hitting the underside of the cross bar and bouncing over the line. 1-0 to Barca!
7 min: Rakitic looks like a man possessed as he closes down Rabiot inside PSG's own half. The Barca player gets ahead of himself though and lunges in with a reckless challenge that gets pulled up for a foul.
9 min: Corner for Barca on the left. It's pinged in but poses relatively little threat to the visitors and is cleared with ease.
10 min: Another Barca attack, another Barca corner. This time from the right. Neymar delivers, Marquinhos clears, and up steps Mascherano to pounce on the loose ball outside the PSG box. He lets loose with an ambitious half-volley but it's off target and runs out for a goal-kick.
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