The European Champions League round of 16 gets underway on Valentine’s Day, Tuesday, February 14th with one of the matches taking place as Parc des Princes in Paris. French Ligue 1 side Paris Saint Germain (PSG) will be hosting Barcelona of the Spanish la Liga.
The second-leg of the home-and-away two-game series will be played in Barcelona on Wednesday, March 8th. This is the third time the clubs will be meeting in the knockout stages in the past five seasons.
Paris Saint Germain vs Barcelona – bet365 Soccer Betting Line:
- bet365 currently lists Barcelona as the favorites to win the game at 11/10 with PSG 5/2 and a draw also at 5/2.
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Paris Saint Germain vs Barcelona – Head to Head:
- The clubs met twice in the group stage in 2014/15 with Barcelona 3-1 at home after losing 3-1 away. They also beat PSG 2-0 away 3-1 at home in the quarterfinals. Barcelona has four wins, two losses and three draws in their nine meetings with PSG and has outscored them 16-11 during that stretch. PSG has two wins, a draw and a loss at home while Barcelona has two wins and two draws away. The ninth match was a 1-0 Barcelona win in the Cup Winners’ Cup in Holland in 1997.
Paris Saint Germain – A Closer Look:
PSG head into the contest after making a couple of changes to their Champions League squad as Julian Draxler and Giovani Lo Celso have been added while Nanitamo Ikone, Jesé and Hervin Ongenda have been left out. PSG are currently in a dogfight with Monaco and Nice as the club takes aim at another league title. They still have time to pull it off, but it’s going to be a tough task to achieve. The odds look pretty good in the Champions League though as PSG has never lost a series in the round of 16.
However, they did lose to Barcelona in the final four in both 2012/13 and 2014/15. PSG has been knocked out of the competition in the quarter-finals in each of the last four years. Man City spoiled their party last campaign with a 3-2 win on aggregate after drawing 2-2 in Paris. PSG has lost just twice in their past 13 games at home against Spanish opposition. Their loss to Barcelona in 2014/15 was their first defeat in 42 home European matches since 2006/07.
They had won 26 and drew 15 until then. PSG finished second in the group stage this season behind Arsenal of England with three wins and three draws. They scored 13 times and allowed seven goals against. PSG went unbeaten at home in the group stage with a win and two draws. They have six wins, five draws and two defeats at home against Spanish clubs and overall they have 10 victories, five draws and a pair of losses. However, they haven’t managed to win a game against a Spanish club in their past five attempts.
Barcelona – A Closer Look:
Barcelona enters the contest without making any changes to their Champions League roster. As usual, Barcelona is fighting neck and neck with Real Madrid for the domestic league title and they still have to worry about Sevilla. Barcelona will need to make up some ground though if they’re going to hoist the La Liga crown yet again this season.
Barcelona has four wins, three draws and three losses in France and overall against French clubs they have 12 victories, five draws and four defeats. They’ve lost just once on their past six trips to France with two wins and three draws. This is the 13th straight season that Barcelona has reached the knockout stages of the Champions League. They won Group C this season by six points over Manchester City of the English Premier League as they finished with five wins and a loss with 20 goals for and four against.
In addition, the Spanish club has reached the quarterfinals for nine consecutive campaigns. If they make it this season it will be a tournament record 10 straight times. Barcelona was knocked out in last season’s quarterfinals when they were beaten by fellow Spanish club Atletico Madrid, winning 2-1 at home and losing 2-0 away. They reached the final four by beating Arsenal of the English Premier League 2-0 away and 3-1 at home.
Paris Saint Germain vs Barcelona – Takeaway:
Barcelona is looking for its sixth European Cup triumph while PSG is after its first. Barcelona seems to have their number in the knockout stages so it’s imperative that PSG gets off to a good start at home.
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