FC Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain
Competition / Round: 2020-21 UEFA Champions League, Round of 16, leg 1
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto, Ronald Araujo (outside), Gerard Piqué, Martin Braithwaite (doubt)
PSG Outs & Twifts: Neymar, Ángel Di María, Colin Dagba, Juan Bernat, Timothée Pembélé (out), Marco Verratti (doubt)
Date Time: Tuesday 16 February 2021, 21:00 CET / WAT (Barcelona and Nigeria), 20:00 GMT (UK), 15:00 ET, 12:00 PT (USA), 01:30 IST (India, Wednesday)
Venue: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
VAR: Pol van Boekel (NED)
How to watch TV: TUDN (USA), BT Sport 3 (United Kingdom), SONY TEN 2 (India), Canal + Sport 3 (Nigeria), Movistar League of Champions (Spain), other
How to stream: FuboTV (USA), BT Sport Live (UK), Movistar + (Spain), DAZN (Canada), others
After a very good win against Alavés to extend their unbeaten streak La Liga, Barcelona are back in action for the biggest game of the season so far: the first game of their Champions League round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain.
Due to a terrible loss to Juventus in the final of the group stage in December last year, Barça took second place in the group and faced a group winner while playing the second leg away from home, and the draw with PSG is not easy at all.
But as is usually the case, you can not play out the result of the Round of 16 when it is presented in December, as the matches only take place in February, and teams can change a lot in the two months. And both teams did: PSG went to the Champions League finalists to change their coach to no longer look like a world beats star, and Barça have improved tremendously and come into this one in the best form of the season.
Ronald Koeman still has to prove himself in big games, and it’s hard to get bigger than this one. Given their away record in Europe over the past three years, Barça MUST achieve a result in the first match, especially as there is a good chance that the injured Neymar will be in Paris for the return match.
With Neymar and Ángel Di María missing this one, the creative burden of PSG will fall on the shoulders of Kylian Mbappé, who struggled at the start of the season but now almost literally flies. Defending him well is the key to Barça getting a result, and if Gerard Piqué confirms the rumors and plays on Tuesday, the Blaugranaimprove their chances.
The league form is incredible, and Barça are getting slightly healthier in this series, but they have yet to win a big game this season. In fact, they have not even played well in a big game yet. If they do not pass on Tuesday and are beaten badly, it’s really hard to see them still pulling 6-1 in the second leg. After all, Sergi Roberto is injured.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Dest, Mingueza, Lenglet, Alba; De Jong, Busquets, Pedri; Dembélé, Messi, Griezmann
PSG (4-2-3-1): Navas; Florenzi, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Paredes, Gueye; Sarabia, Verratti, Mbappé; Icardi
PREDICTION
I have absolutely no idea what to expect from this match. It could again be an embarrassment for Barça in Europe, or they could stun PSG with some early goals and then protect their lead for the rest of the game. Because I’m an optimist, I’ll bet on the second result: 2-1 for the good guys.