PSG welcome Barcelona to Parc des Princes
The French champions scrap with the Spanish champions for the right to earn a first-leg advantage in their Champions League quarter-final, as Paris Saint Germain welcome Barcelona to their Parc des Princes base on Wednesday.
Luis Enrique reunites with his former employers on the back of masterminding a 4-1 aggregate last-16 win over Real Sociedad, while La Blaugrana were 4-2 victors over Italian champions Napoli.
Nine years on from hoisting the famous European crown aloft with Barcelona, Enrique is potentially just five games away from finally ending PSG’s excruciating Champions League hoodoo, while also offering Kylian Mbappe the best kind of parting gift in the process.
A last-16 affair with Real Sociedad was not expected to pose too many problems for Les Parisiens, and true enough, Enrique’s team strolled to a pair of 2-0 and 2-1 successes.
Les Parisiens’ most recent defeat came in a Champions League trip to AC Milan back in November, though, and little more needs to be said about the hosts’ penchant for catastrophic European collapses.
Barcelona make the relatively short trip to Paris with the wind in their sails, and all it took was head coach Xavi announcing his decision to step down at the end of the season.
Since dropping his resignation bombshell after a 5-3 loss to Villarreal in January, Xavi has presided over an 11-game unbeaten streak across all competitions. An eight-point gap to leaders Real Madrid with eight games to go may be insurmountable for Barcelona to make up, but PSG know all too well that the Blaugrana have previous when it comes to spectacular turnarounds.
Since Barcelona last took to the field at the end of March, PSG have endured two gruelling clashes in the Coupe de France and Ligue 1, so there is no question who the fresher legs will belong to at the Parc des Princes.
However, Parisiens boss Enrique rested several key names for the clash with Clermont with Wednesday’s reunion in mind, and taking into account Barcelona’s recent affinity for dogged defensive displays, we expect Wednesday’s tense tussle to end all square ahead of a tantalising second leg in Catalonia.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Atletico host Borussia Dortmund at the Wanda Metropolitano
Two unfancied contenders for the Champions League crown bid to gain a first-leg advantage in Wednesday’s quarter-final tie, as Atletico Madrid host Borussia Dortmund at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Diego Simeone‘s side dramatically eliminated last year’s runners-up Inter Milan on penalties in the last 16, while their Bundesliga counterparts were 3-1 victors over PSV Eindhoven.
Sometimes the bridesmaid and never the bride, Atletico will now participate in the Champions League quarter-finals for the third time in five years, Atletico have incredibly never suffered a Champions League knockout defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano or their old Vicente Calderon home, prevailing in 10 of those 16 contests and shipping just four goals in the process.
Since a 1-0 group-stage loss to AC Milan in November 2021, Atletico have gone nine Champions League home games without ending up on the losing side – winning each of their last four – suggesting that Dortmund well and truly have their work cut out this week.
Lying outside the Champions League places in the Bundesliga table on account of that narrow loss – albeit with only goal difference separating them from RB Leipzig in fourth – BVB can neither prioritise European glory nor a top-four finish before Wednesday’s reunion with Atletico, whom Dortmund lost 2-0 to on Spanish soil in the 2018-19 group stage after a 4-0 shellacking at Signal Iduna Park.
Dortmund’s form book may make for more pleasant reading, but Terzic’s side were toothless in their loss to fellow European hopefuls Stuttgart, and another narrow defeat could await the Bundesliga heavyweights.
Always a defensive force to be reckoned with in Champions League knockout contests on their own patch, Atletico have had the luxury of an extended recuperation period ahead of Wednesday’s first leg, a welcome break amid their inconsistency domestically.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Security raised for Champions League matches after threat
Security will be increased at Champions League games this week after a media outlet supporting the Islamic State group published threats against venues.
Ministers in both France and Spain have confirmed enhanced security measures.
A pro-IS media channel has published several images of stadiums hosting quarter-final ties on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Uefa said it was aware of the threats, but said games in Madrid, Paris and London would go ahead as planned.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said there would be “considerably reinforced” security measures in place when PSG play Barcelona in Paris on Wednesday.
Mr Darmanin continued: “I will remind you that only 10 days ago, IS shared a picture of the Munich stadium and said action should be taken against sports venues that host football games – although all sports can be targeted. Given how important the Champions League is for football, we are of course talking to our partners.”
Two quarter-finals are due to be held in Madrid this week. Real Madrid host Manchester City on Tuesday, while Atletico Madrid take on Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
Pilar Alegría, Spain’s sports minister, has issued a message of “calm” ahead of the games in Madrid and said “more than 2,000 police and civil guard officers” are being deployed.
The acting mayor of Madrid, Inmaculada Sanz, told Spanish media there was no specific threat afoot, adding the terrorist alert level in Spain was four out of five, which is classified as high risk.
“These announcements are usually propaganda actions to provoke fear,” she said. “Both the security forces and the intelligence services are studying any possible threat, but there is nothing that makes us foresee a situation of special risk.”
Credit: bbc.com
FIXTURES
Atlético Madrid20:00Borussia Dortmund
Paris Saint Germain20:00Barcelona
