Barca seeks Champions League miracle
PARIS. — Barcelona striker Neymar vowed his side will throw everything at Paris Saint- Germain in their bid to overturn a four-goal deficit in the Champions League soccer last 16 this week.
PSG fi red 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 the Camp Nou tomorrow night.
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 has 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.
“It’s really important t hat our spirit is on the way up and our confidence too. I see us on the up and with confidence. On Wednesday we are going to play really well.”
Barca knocked PSG out at the quarter-fi nal stage in both 201213 and 2014-15, 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 fi ft h year in succession.
“Many teams have lost 5- 0 at the 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 quarter-fi nals.
“I think it will be important to attack and not just think about defending.”
Bayern Munich have one foot in the next round aft er 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.
“We have a big advantage, but Arsenal are dangerous, so we have to go full throttle to win,” said Spain international Javi Mar- tinez, who netted his fi rst goal of the season in Saturday’s 3-0 victory at Cologne.
Philipp Lahm will miss the game through suspension, but t he Bayern skipper said his team-mates would aim to extinguish any lingering hopes Arsene Wenger’s men have right from kick- off in London.
“We have to be highly focused and, most importantly, show Arsenal in the fi rst quarter-hour they can forget the next round,” Lahm said ahead of tonight’s clash, with the English Premier League side staring at a seventh straight last-16 exit.
Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil will miss tonight’s Champions League last-16 second leg against Bayern Munich after illness, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said.
Ozil was absent from Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat at Liverpool on Saturday and although the German star has returned to training, Wenger doesn’t believe he is ready to face Bayern.
Losing the World Cup winner for the Emirates Stadium showdown is another blow for Arsenal, who face the daunting task of having to overturn a 5-1 deficit from the fi rst leg.
“Ozil is not in the squad. He was sick and he was out the whole of last week,” Wenger said.
“He had only one session yesterday. I don’t think he is ready physically to be in the squad.
“He should be ready for the weekend (for the FA Cup quarter-fi nal against Lincoln).”
Holders Real Madrid head to Napoli as clear favourites 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.
“We believe in it. We know we can score two goals at the San Paolo. We also know it will be quite a job for our defenders,” Senegalese centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly said following Saturday’s 2-1 win at Roma in Serie A.
Borussia Dortmund trail 1- 0 ahead of the visit of Benfica to Signal Iduna Park tomorrow. — AFP.