Barcelona’s reasons to believe in victory over PSG

Champions League 20-21

ONE System | 16/02/2021 10:05

Griezmann, Neymar, Dembele, Messi and Koeman (Reuters)

Barcelona will meet Paris Saint-Germain tonight (Tuesday, 22:00) in a giant battle at the Camp Nou in the last eight of the Champions League. If at the moment of the lottery it seemed that the French are the clear favorites to move on to the next stage, quite a few things have happened recently that make the forecasts look a little different, and in ‘Marca’ we noted the Catalans’ reasons for optimism.

Initially, Ronald Koeman’s team had more significant injuries in the squad, when Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Anso Patti were injured, and the Dutchman’s 4: 2: 3: 1 formation did not work. Subsequently, Barça has crystallized and is already counting seven consecutive La Liga victories since last month, in a 4-3: 3 formation, including several character reversals against Granada in the Cup and Betis in the league.

Barcelona players celebrate (Reuters)

Also, Leo Messi returned to excellent form and demonstrated this in the last league game against Alabs, when he scored a pair of great goals from outside the box. When he is in such shape, Barça can beat anyone, as Koeman also said at the press conference. In addition to Flea, Antoine Griezmann and Frankie de Jong also raised their level in 2021, with the two impressing on the grass and even scoring regularly.

Another and perhaps most important and critical reason, is two significant injuries in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad – Neymar was injured against Cannes in the Cup and is also in doubt for a rematch at the Parc de France, while Angel Di Maria, still one of the best and most prominent players on the team from the City of Lights, will be absent. From the meeting.

Neymar. PSG has never won at the Camp Nou, will meet Messi in France? (Reuters)