Barcelona brace for PSG, at home
BARCELONA: Barcelona’s hopes of beating Paris Saint-Germain and leapfrogging them to finish top of their Champions League group rests on troubling the French champions’ defence more than they did in the 3-2 defeat in Paris, claimed coach Luis Enrique.
PSG — who came from behind to beat Nantes 2-1 on Saturday, ensuring they remained the only unbeaten team in the major European leagues — top the table by a point and a draw will suffice to see them win their Champions League group for the third successive season.
Barcelona, who prevailed in a tightly-fought quarter-final between the teams in the 2012/13 campaign, progressing on away goals, will be compelled to go for goals but enter the game on the back of a crushing 5-1 derby win over Espanyol, in which Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick.
However, Enrique, who played with PSG coach Laurent Blanc at Barcelona, said that his forward line would have to be more clinical than they were in the entertaining defeat in Paris.
“I hope that their defence will suffer a little more at the Camp Nou than was the case in the first game,” said the 44-year-old, who took over after Gerardo Martino was sacked following a trophyless season last term.
“I hope that we will deserve the victory, and the only way to do that is by showing our superiority on the pitch.”