The State of Play
In January, Barcelona were enduring a really difficult run of form and in the aftermath of losing 5-3 at home to a then struggling Villarreal side, Xavi announced that he would be departing the club at the end of the season. Ever since that announcement, the Catalans are now unbeaten in their last 13 matches across all competitions and are eyeing up what could be a historic end to the 2023/24 campaign.
They defeated Paris Saint-Germain by three goals to two at the Parc des Princes last weekend with former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique left frustrated after yet another experiment in that game with Marco Asensio playing as a ‘false nine’. PSG had been unbeaten since November before that loss and are themselves looking for a fantastic end to the season as they aim for a treble.
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Team News
With performances and results improving at Barcelona, Xavi was also able to welcome back both Frenkie de Jong and Pedri in recent weeks. The Catalans do remain without fellow key midfielder, Gavi, due to his ACL injury. Sergi Roberto is out suspended.
PSG have been heavily rotating in Ligue 1 for a while now but the Parisiens had the weekend off in France so Luis Enrique should have a fresh squad for this week. Achraf Hakimi has returned from suspension for this week.
Expected Line-ups
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Cancelo; Gundogan, Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha
PSG: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Lucas Beraldo, Hernandez; Ugarte, Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz; Dembele, Mbappe, Barcola
What they Said
Throughout their improved run of form, Xavi has insisted that the reason for it is because of his decision to announce he will step down at the end of the season. He has said this numerous times and did so again at the weekend but didn’t elaborate on why that is the case.
Luis Enrique, in the build-up to the first-leg, took a dig at his former Barcelona captain Xavi. He said that his football is far more representative of the Barcelona ‘style’ of football’ than what Xavi’s has been.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at 20:00 at Estadi Olympic Lluis Companys on Tuesday April 16th. It will be televised live on TNT Sports in the UK and will also be able to be streamed live via the TNT Sports app in the UK.
Prediction
Last week’s first-leg was a topsy turvy encounter with Barcelona dominant for their 1-0 lead at half-time before PSG turned things around with the introduction of Bradley Barcola but then the Catalans roared back to give themselves a lead too defend at home this week. PSG will not expect Kylian Mbappe to be as underwhelming as he was and with Barcola as well as Ousmane Dembele supporting him on the counter attack, PSG scoring seems inevitable really. With that said, Barca should also notch against a PSG team intent on playing their way into trouble at times and another high-scoring affair seems likely at the Olympic Stadium.
