Paris St Germain will look to overcome the
absence of key players including striker
Zlatan Ibrahimovic in Wednesday's
Champions League quarter-final first leg
against Barcelona.
PSG are buoyant after strong domestic
performances last week having beaten
bitter Ligue 1 rivals Olympique de Marseille
3-2, thrashed St Etienne 4-1 in the French
Cup semi-finals, and won the League Cup
final 4-0 against Bastia on Saturday.
The two teams have met regularly recently
in the Champions League, with PSG beating
Barca 3-2 at home in a Group F game this
season before losing 3-1 at the Nou Camp.
Barca reached the 2013 semi-finals by
eliminating PSG on away goals, drawing 1-1
at home after a 2-2 stalemate in Paris.
Barca's Brazil right back Dani Alves is
suspended for Wednesday's game, with
Adriano or Martin Montoya likely to replace
him in the starting line-up.
TEAM NEWS
PSG are without the suspended Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and injured midfielder Thiago
Motta, who picked up a thigh injury in their
recent Ligue 1 encounter with Olympique
de Marseille. However, PSG's Brazil centre
back David Luiz could return to action after
being named in the squad having recovered
from a hamstring problem.
Dani Alves is suspended for the visiting side.
Thomas Vermaelen travelled with the squad
to Barca, but is unlikely to feature. There
remains speculation Neymar could be
dropped from the Barca starting team.
MANAGER QUOTES
Laurent Blanc: "Do I feel a new momentum?
It's been the case for a while. We worked
physically (during the winter break) and
today, in money time (the latter stages),
we're good. We are gaining momentum
while last year at the same time we were on
the way down."
Luie Enrique: "Alves is an important player
for us, as evidenced by the amount of
minutes he plays. However, we have a large
squad and the options I have available to
me offer me reassurances that Dani Alves'
absence will not condition how we play. I
like everything about my team; that’s why
we are where we are."
MATCH FACTS
PSG are the only team who have managed
to beat Barcelona in this Champions League
season, as well as the only one able to score
3+ goals against the Spanish side since the
2013/14 edition.
Barcelona have won six consecutive games
in this competition for the first time since
2011/12, scoring 2.5 goals per game on
average in the process.
This will be the third Champions League
quarterfinal played between these two
sides: the French team progressed in the
1994/95 season while the Spanish one
made it through the semifinal in 2012/13.
Each of the six Champions League clashes
between these two sides have seen both
teams finding the net, with exactly 10 goals
scored apiece.
Barcelona have found the back of the net in
all the last 18 European games against a
French opponent, while PSG have failed to
score only once over the last 13 meetings in
Europe versus a Spanish side.
However, Barcelona are yet to win a
European game away to France since
October 2001 against Lyon: since then, the
Spanish have drawn three games and lost
one.
Barcelona will play the Champions League
quarterfinals stage for the 18th time in their
history: Luis Enrique’s side have progressed
9 times, including seven of the last eight
times they’ve reached this round.
On the other hand, PSG have stepped into
this stage three times previously, failing to
progress in the last two editions of the
competition (2012/13 and 2013/14).
The French side have conceded the most
goals (10) in this Champions League among
the eight teams left on the battle field.
17 of Barcelona’s 18 goals scored in this
Champions League have come from open
play, a competition-high this season.
David Luiz’s goal on the 30th of September
2014 was the only one scored by a
defender in the Champions League
meetings between these two teams since
1995.
Lionel Messi has scored 43 goals this season
in all competitions, reaching 40+ goals in a
single campaign for the sixth time in a row
with Barcelona.
The Argentinian has scored 20 goals and
assisted 13 in his 19 appearances for
Barcelona in 2015 (all competitions).
PSG have lost none of the 17 games this
season (all competitions) in which Zlatan
Ibrahimovic have not been in the starting
eleven, winning 12 and drawing five.
http://www.eurosport.com/football/champions-league/2014-2015/psg-v-fc-barcelona-preview-parisiens-banking-on-momentum-against-barca_sto4676815/story.shtml

tough tie but i predict a draw 2-2.