The quarterfinals of the Champions League are upon us as Barcelona visits Paris Saint-Germain.
The Spanish giants fell 2-0 in their first leg encounter against AC Milan in the round of 16 but bounced back with a 4-0 win that saw Lionel Messi score a brace. "We are now fully focused on the Paris game. It won't be easy, but I have a good feeling about it," said Messi about the impending match.
The Catalan side will be happy to welcome back Jordi Alba, Xavi, and Coach Tito Villanova for the encounter. Xavi was suffering from a hamstring injury while Alba suffered an injury while playing for Spain. The return of Vilanova is the most important of all. The coach had been doing chemotherapy over the last 10 weeks for throat cancer and in his absent Barcelona struggled immensely. While he is unlikely to coach the match, he will surely be on hand to help guide the squad. He recently led his own practice this past Friday prior to the club's game with Celta Vigo.
Paris Saint-Germain will also be getting a player back for the first leg: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish striker was banned from the second leg against Valencia in the round of 16 and was supposed to miss Tuesday's match. However, the team appealed and the ban was lifted.
"We will have to remain focused [against Barca] for 90 minutes. You have to stay calm when they have the ball," said Paris' Javier Pastore about playing against Barcelona. "Barcelona are a team that exploit the smallest error from the opposition to score. From that moment, it is very hard to come back."
Predictions: Paris holds Barcelona to a 1-1 draw.
Start Time: 2:45 PM EST
TV: Fox Soccer Channel