FC Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain
Competition / Round: 2020-21 UEFA Champions League, round of 16, first match
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Ansu Fati, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto, Ronald Araujo (out), Gerard Piqué, Martin Braithwaite (doubt)
PSG Outs & Doubts: Neymar, Ángel Di María, Colin Dagba, Juan Bernat, Timothée Pembélé (out), Marco Verratti (doubt)
Date time: Tuesday, February 16, 2021, 9 pm CET / WAT (Barcelona and Nigeria), 8 pm GMT (United Kingdom), 3 pm ET, 12 pm PT (USA), 1:30 am IST (India, Wednesday)
Place: Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Judge: Björn Kuipers (NED)
VAR: Pol van Boekel (NED)
How to watch on TV: TUDN (USA), BT Sport 3 (United Kingdom), SONY TEN 2 (India), Canal + Sport 3 (Nigeria), Movistar Champions League (Spain), others
How to transmit: FuboTV (USA), BT Sport Live (United Kingdom), Movistar + (Spain), DAZN (Canada), others
After a very good victory over Alavés to extend his unbeaten streak in the La Liga, Barcelona are back in action for the biggest game of the season so far: the first leg of the round of 16 of the Champions League, against Paris Saint-Germain.
Due to a terrible defeat for Juventus in the group stage final last December, Barça finished second in their group and face the group’s victory with the second leg played away from home, and the draw with PSG is nothing. easy.
But, as usually happens, you cannot judge the draw for the round of 16 when it is done in December, since the matches only happen in February, and the teams can change a lot in these two months. And both teams: PSG went to the Champions League finalist to change their coach to not look like a world champion anymore, and Barça improved a lot and reached this one in their best form of the season.
Ronald Koeman has yet to prove himself in big games and it’s hard to get bigger than this. Given his record away from home in Europe for the past three years, Barça MUST get a result in the first leg, especially as there is a good chance that the injured Neymar will return to the game back in Paris.
With Neymar and Ángel Di María missing, PSG’s creative burden will fall on the shoulders of Kylian Mbappé, who fought earlier in the season but is – almost literally – flying now. Defending him well is the key for Barça to achieve a result, and if Gerard Piqué confirms the rumors and plays on Tuesday, the Blaugranathe chances of increasing.
The form of the championship is incredible and Barça are a little healthier in this game, but they haven’t won a truly important game this season. In fact, they didn’t even play well in a truly big game. If they don’t do that on Tuesday and are beaten badly, it’s really hard to see them get another 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 can be an embarrassing night for Barça in Europe, or they can surprise PSG with a few goals at the start and then protect the advantage for the rest of the game. As I am optimistic, I bet on the second result: 2-1 for the good guys.