The Spanish giants travel to Parc des Princes on Wednesday night, aiming to channel yet another historic comeback. The Catalans faced a crushing 4-1 defeat at home in the first leg, as they look to bounce back one again. Do they have the belief to live up to the expectations? This is PSG Vs Barcelona – Another Possible Remontada?
Match Preview
In a similar scenario in 2017, PSG had a 4-1 lead heading into the 2nd leg, where Barcelona was able to perform the most talked about comebacks of this generation. However, a lot has changed since then. Most importantly, two of the players who scored are no longer with the team. In fact, Neymar, who scored a brace back then, is now on the other side. Not to mention also that PSG are playing at home this time, and their superstar Mbappe is in a better form than he was last time. We saw how Barca’s defence struggled to contain him and we expect the same this time. However, The Catalans do have some interesting young players, they also have been coming back from behind to win games. Will it be the same case this time? Let’s talk about it in details.
Paris Saint-Germain
Let’s face it, everyone expected PSG to struggle in the first leg, especially without Neymar and Di Maria. However, a young French star rose to stardom in the Camp Nou, scoring 3 goals to secure an impressive win for the Capital side. Mbappe became just the third player of all time to score a Champions League hat-trick against Barcelona. Was it a sign for Florentino Perez to secure his services at all cost? His speed and efficiency proved to be difficult to deal with, and the Frenchman took advantage of it. Can he do it again at home this time? If so, another goal on Wednesday would see him become the youngest player in the history of the tournament to hit 25 goals – a record currently held by none other than Messi himself!
PSG head into this game having secured their qualification in the Coupe De France, after beating Brest 3-0 and Mbappe scoring a brace as well. Although they did lose to Monaco at home after their CL game with Barca. However, they were on a 6 game winning run prior to that. In other words, Pochettino’s men are strong at home and should be ready to face the pressure of elimination on Wednesday.
FC Barcelona
Onto the Catalans, who seems to be rejuvenated after Juan Laporta was elected the new president of the club. What a week it has been for Barca fans. Bartomeu arrested, comeback vs Sevilla, Laporta elected president. Now all that’s left is to complete another Remontada against PSG on Wednesday. The positivity of Laporta’s win will affect the whole team, especially since it makes their best player happy. Messi is a friend of Laporta, and the latter will try to convince the Argentenian to stay at the club with lower wages, as he focuses on building a new sport project. Will he be able to do that?
Now on to football, Barcelona will go to Paris in great spirits and they will be hopeful of a miraculous comeback. To be honest they earned that. However, they should keep both feet on the ground and manage the expectations accordingly. The Blaugrana head into this game on the back of four consecutive wins across all competitions – scoring 10 goals and conceding a grand total of zero in that run. The difference is now just three points off the top of the table, although Atletico still have a game in hand. In addition, during that run, Barca were able to overcome a 2-0 first leg deficit to Sevilla in the Copa Del Rey to qualify for the final. A 93rd minute goal by Pique made it 2-0 and Barca dominated the ET to secure the win. Ter Stegen also saved a crucial penalty to keep his side in it. You can just sense the comeback feeling is within this team. If Koeman got his tactics right, do you think they have a chance?
Team News
In what will be a huge boost for PSG, Neymar is finally back to team training as he continues his comeback from an injury. However, it remains to be seen if Pochettino will risk playing him or not. Di Maria also made his return, coming off the bench against Brest last time. The only confirmed absentees for the capital team are Moise Kean (coronavirus) and Juan Bernat (ACL).
As for Barca, a medical evaluation and tests carried out on Pique after the Sevilla game have shown that he has sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee. So he will miss the game. AraΓΊjo is doubtful as he continue to recover from a knee injury. Coutinho , Sergi Roberto and Fati are all out.
Prediction & Current Odds
PSG Vs Barcelona – Another Possible Remontada?. Bottom line is, anything can happen in this game. Another Remontada is definitely on the table while PSG securing the qualification is as well. It will be a crazy game to call. what we expect is that both team will score, Barca have nothing to lose and they head into this battle with great spirits. They have what it takes to stun everyone and make another comeback. However, Pochettino is smart enough to manage his side for a good result. It will be interesting to see how both teams approach this. If Barca decided to attack from the first minute, they might be too exposed in the back. On the other hand, if PSG decided to defend from the start, they too risk to lose momentum and who knows what can happen then. Given that Barca will do anything to qualify and PSG are aiming to avenge their 2017 loss, we expect this to be a high scoring game affair with both teams finding the back of the net.
- Over 2.5 goals: 1.40
- Both Teams to Score: 1.40
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