Paris St-Germain coach Luis Enrique believes his side are in an excellent position to overcome their first-leg deficit against Barcelona and reach the Champions League semi-finals.
“PSG never came back to win after losing the first leg, but (Tuesday) is the big day,” Luis Enrique said.
“We have a very united group of players, in which there are no egos.”
Enrique won the treble in 2014-15, one of his three seasons as Barcelona coach.
He was also in charge when the Spanish champions beat PSG 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 first-leg defeat in the last 16 in 2017.
Five-time winners Barcelona are aiming to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in five years.
“We are not a team that is going to stay ahead, we want to take the ball away from PSG and win the game,” said manager Xavi.
“It’s the Champions League, it’s Paris and a match where no one holds back.”
Barcelona will be without Andreas Christensen and Sergio Roberto, both of whom are suspended.
PSG right-back Achraf Hakimi could return after being suspended from the first leg.
MATCH STATISTICS
Face-to-face
- Paris St-Germain have faced Barcelona (14 times) more than any other opponent in European competitions. PSG’s record against the Spanish champions is 4 wins, 4 draws and 6 defeats.
- There have been 127 occasions where a team suffered a 3-2 home defeat in the first leg of a UEFA knockout tie. Only six recovered to progress.
- Xavi and Luis Enrique were teammates for Barcelona and Spain. Luis Enrique’s first season as Barca coach was Xavi’s final campaign at the club as a player (2014/15), with the club winning the treble of the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey.
Barcelona
- Barcelona have only progressed in two of their last seven Champions League quarter-finals: 5-1 on aggregate for Luis Enrique’s Barça against PSG in 2014/15 and 4-0 on aggregate against Manchester United in 2018 /19.
- Barcelona have only lost the first leg in one of their 17 Champions League home-and-away quarter-finals (W12, D4, L1), a 2-1 defeat after extra time against Juventus in the return match 2002/03 (Barça’s goal was scored). by Xavi).
- Barcelona progressed from 11 Champions League knockout matches and recorded an away win in the first leg.
Paris Saint Germain
- PSG (three) falls short of equaling Monaco (four) as the French club having played in the most Champions League semi-finals.
- PSG have not been knocked out of a Champions League quarter-final since a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Manchester City in 2015/16.
- PSG have progressed from three of their seven Champions League quarter-finals, including their last two: 2-1 against Atalanta and on away goals against Bayern Munich in 2020/21.
