FC Barcelona to play PSG in Champions League quarters
The draw for the Champions League quarter finals has been made, and Barça have been drawn against PSG in a head-to-head battle for a place in the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition. The first game will be played in Paris on April 15, and a week later, on April 21, the sides will meet again at the Camp Nou. The two teams, who know each other well from this year's Group F, were the first pair to be drawn. In their group-stage matchups, PSG won the first match in Paris 3–2, but Barça were victorious in the return at Camp Nou, winning 3–1 to top the group, leaving PSG in second. The first match will be without a few big players. Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti, and Barça's Dani Alves will all be serving suspensions.
Barcelona (FCB).- On Friday at 12.00pm CET in Nyon, Switzerland, the very first pairing for the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals was announced: Paris-Saint Germain v FC Barcelona. The two sides will play for the third and fourth times this season, after two previous meetings in group F. In their group-stage matchups, PSG won the first match in Paris 3–2, but Barça were victorious in the return at Camp Nou, winning 3–1 to top the group, leaving PSG in second.
The first match will be without a few big players. Paris Saint-Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti, and Barça's Dani Alves will all be serving suspensions.
Demanding month of April
The Champions League tie with PSG falls in the middle of a tough month for Luis Enrique's team. Barça play at Sevilla beforehand, then host Valencia in the middle, and finish off April by playing at Espanyol after the quarter-finals.
The other quarter-final matchups are: Atlético de Madrid v Real Madrid, Porto v Bayern Munich and Juventus v Mónaco.
Mestre gives analysis
FC Barcelona Sports Area Vice-President Jordi Mestre, who led the blaugrana expedition to the draw in Nyon, said that it would be a "difficult tie, because PSG added some big-time players this year." He feels that Barça know their next opponent well due to the two group stage clashes earlier this year. Nevertheless, "those two matches won't have any bearing. The first leg is the only game we need to focus on right now," he added.