This Tuesday February 16, 2021, FC Barcelona welcomes PSG for a match counting for the round of 16 first leg of the 2020-2021 edition of the Champions League. This match will take place at Camp Nou in Barcelona (Spain) and kick off will be at 9:00 p.m. During the group stage, Barça finished in 2nd place in group G and PSG climbed to first place in group H.
Barcelona is a strong host!
Barcelona seem to have found their form after recording 7 consecutive victories in La Liga.
However, the truth is that the gap with Atletico Madrid is large.
The Super Cup is lost. And the Copa del Rey, after losing in the first match against Sevilla 0-2, is also in question.
Hopes remain only in the Champions League. And at least for now they are completely realistic.
Barcelona are a very strong host in this tournament. And not only do they have a large number of victories, but they are often different.
In the latest editions of the Champions League they almost always reach the next round.
Coutinho, Fati, Roberto, Pique, Araujo and Braithwaite will be absent.
Paris Saint-Germain longs for the Champions League!
For PSG, it is clear that the only focus is on the Champions League.
Such is the desire of the owners. But despite the huge investment, something is still missing.
Not that they are in 2nd place in League 1.
And the lost final in the Champions League, as well as the unconvincing performance in the group stage of the tournament took away the trust of Thomas Tuchel.
As he was replaced by Mauricio Pochettino.
Although they have already achieved 3 consecutive victories in League 1 with him, the situation around the team is not good.
Neymar is injured. Di Maria, Bernat and Pembele will also be absent.
Forecast for Barcelona - PSG
In this tournament as guests at the "Camp Nou" Paris Saint-Germain have 2 draws and 8 losses.
In the last 3 elimination clashes the winner is Barcelona.
Most of the matches between these teams have over 3 goals in them. This is when two offensively strong teams meet.
For Pochettino, however, it is more than clear that a goal-scoring approach is not successful. Especially in the first match of an elimination match.
He has a good tournament experience in Europe with Tottenham. And it will certainly offer a defensive approach.
Besides, even for purely personnel reasons, the PSG manager cannot look for a goal.
A draw or a minimal victory will be a good result for them.
I doubt that Barcelona will be able to win by a margin.
It is time for the trend for a result in the first match between these two teams to reverse. As the moment is very appropriate.
And the odds for less than 3 goals are great.
Top facts and statistics for the match
- Barcelona have not lost in their last 6 home games: 4-2-0.
- Barcelona is undefeated in 5 home games against PSG: 3-2-0.
- There have been over 2.5 goals in the last 6 home games of Barça in the Champions League.
- PSG is in a winning streak of 4 matches.
- PSG have lost just 1 of their last 8 away games: 5-2-1.
- In the past, the two clubs have faced each other 12 times since 1995: 5 wins for FC Barcelona, 4 draws and 3 wins for PSG. The last match between Barça and PSG ended in a Barcelona victory by a score of 6 to 1 on March 8, 2017 during the knockout stages of the C1.
- In 6 trips to Catalonia, PSG has never won against FC Barcelona (2 draws and 4 defeats).
- In their respective championship, FC Barcelona won at home against Alavés in the Spanish Liga and PSG won their home duel against Nice in Ligue 1.
- Gerard Piqué, Ronald Araujo and Sergi Roberto will be absent from Barça's side. Neymar and Angel Di Maria, injured, are the two main PSG players to forfeit.
- In the Champions League, Barça have won 5 of their last 6 games. As for PSG, the Parisian club remains on 3 consecutive victories.
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