Global Times

Barca seek miracle in Champions League

Bayern, Real Madrid eye quarterfin­als after first- leg wins

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Barcelona striker Neymar vowed his side will throw everything at Paris SaintGerma­in in their bid to overturn a fourgoal deficit in the Champions League last 16 this week.

PSG fired a significan­t warning of intent throughout Europe with a 4- 0 rout of Barca in the French capital three weeks ago, and will aim to complete the job in the return leg at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

But the Catalan giants go into the game buoyed by thumping 6- 1 and 5- 0 wins in their past two league matches and haven’t given up hope of staging an unpreceden­ted comeback.

No side have lost 4- 0 away from home in Europe and gone through in a two- legged tie, but with Barca’s prolific front three of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, they cannot be entirely discounted.

“Against PSG we will run and fight and then we will see what happens,” said Neymar.

Barca knocked PSG out at the quarterfin­al stage in both 2012- 13 and 201415, but the reigning French champions have the upper hand this time and January signing Julian Draxler is confident of reaching the last eight for the fifth year in succession.

“Many teams have lost 5- 0 at Camp Nou, we know that anything is possible,” Draxler told PSG’s club website. “But deep down I’m convinced we’ll qualify for the quarterfin­als.”

Bayern Munich have one foot in the next round after thrashing Arsenal 5- 1 at the Allianz Arena and look set to eliminate the Gunners in the last 16 for the third time in the past five seasons.

Philipp Lahm will miss the game through suspension, but the Bayern skipper said his teammates would aim to extinguish any lingering hopes Arsene Wenger’s men have right from kickoff in London.

“We have to be highly focused and, most importantl­y, show Arsenal in the first quarter- hour they can forget the next round,” Lahm said ahead of Tuesday’s clash, with the Premier League side staring at a seventh straight last- 16 exit.

Holders Real Madrid head to Napoli as clear favorites after a 3- 1 win in the Spanish capital, but such an advantage has not always proved a guarantee of success for the record 11- time champions.

Real have held a similar lead on eight previous occasions in European competitio­n but only progressed half of the time, providing Napoli with reason to dream they can pull off a shock.

Borussia Dortmund trail 1- 0 ahead of the visit of Benfica to Signal Iduna Park on Wednesday.

Pierre- Emerick Aubameyang missed a penalty as Kostas Mitroglou’s secondhalf strike in Lisbon last month gave the Portuguese outfit the edge in their tie.

But the Gabonese striker netted his 20th and 21st goals of the Bundesliga season in Saturday’s 6- 2 drubbing of Bayer Leverkusen to move back in front of Bayern marksman Robert Lewandowsk­i at the top of the scoring charts.

However, the victory came at a cost with Germany internatio­nal Marco Reus ruled out for four weeks after tearing his hamstring. “It’s an enormous loss which tarnishes the win,” said Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel.

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