After outlasting Cadiz, normally a tricky opponent for the top teams in LaLiga, with a 1-0 win, Barcelona are set to defend the Spotify Camp Nou in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals vs. PSG.
Barcelona head into the second battle with the Ligue 1 champions as the clear favorites. They were already favored going into the first leg, but with a 3-2 lead on aggregate heading into the home fixture, the odds are in Xavi’s favor.
Here are five bold predictions for how this battle between Barcelona and PSG could shake out.
Barcelona will blow out PSG 3-0
PSG simply don’t stand a chance against Barcelona. When the Blaugrana are at their best defensively, they are capable of shutting any attack down. Last season, they were historically great defensively with just 20 goals allowed in LaLiga.
Although Barcelona have already surrendered more goals (34) this season, they have the same key players as they did last year in Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen, Alejandro Balde, and Ronald Araujo. If anything, they are even stronger on paper with Pau Cubarsi breaking out.
Barcelona still need one more impact player offensively, but with Raphinha rolling and Robert Lewandowski rebounding alongside breakout star Lamine Yamal, there should be enough firepower to challenge a rather poor PSG defense (at least, at the Champions League level). Judging by Joao Felix’s game-winning bicycle kick over the weekend, there’s more magic in Barcelona, too.
Pau Cubarsi will be Man of the Match
Pau Cubarsi had another strong individual performance in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Cadiz on Saturday night. While Cadiz isn’t the most challenging opponent from an attacking perspective, Cubarsi still deserved the plaudits he received for reading the game like a 10-year veteran and recording nine clearances in a clean performance.
He is becoming a big-game player, even as a teenage center back, and he is going to be the standout player again in this pivotal Champions League knockout fixture vs. PSG. Cubarsi is already a hero to Culers.
Kylian Mbappe will ghost again
As part of the PSG shutout display on offense and Cubarsi’s Man of the Match-caliber display, French superstar Kylian Mbappe will, once again, look toothless in a Champions League knockout match.
Mbappe has had good and and bad games in the Champions League knockouts over the years, and anyone who has watched him at the World Cups for France knows that he is a top player on big stages.
This match will be one of his forgettable ones, though. Mbappe did try and created three chances for his teammates in the first leg defeat, but his goal threat was minimal due to the issues around him. The 25-year-old future Real Madrid star will run into the exact same issues against a club he will become even more familiar with in the coming years.
Raphinha will score again
No player in the entire first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals – all eight teams included – had a stronger individual performance than Brazilian winger Raphinha.
His two goals and all-around creative play proved pivotal in Barca’s 3-2 win over PSG at the Parc des Princes, which sets the stage nicely for a strong second leg from the Blaugrana.
Expect Raphinha to have another strong display and find the back of the net again. Selling him will become an even more difficult decision, because the passionate forward continues to show he has the “clutch gene” Barcelona need.
Luis Enrique will catch heat
Former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique likes to do things his own way, but his controversial decisions often backfire because the are, quite frankly, very foolish.
Enrique lost the Spanish national team job because of his arrogant press conferences and arrogant selections, choosing against established players in favor of unknowns who could not get the job done. He is politically inept in front of the press, which is rearing its ugly head with his vague shots at Kylian Mbappe, even subbing his best player at the half of important league games.
If Enrique were in a more competitive league or had a stronger title challenger like Mauricio Pochettino did in 2020/21 with Lille’s elite defense, then PSG may not be in as strong of a position and Enrique would be facing more calls for his job.
He will be embarrassed by his former employers on Tuesday night in Barcelona and have to answer to the press for many mistakes, including eschewing expensive striker signings Goncalo Ramos and Randal Kolo Muani when his team needs goals.
Enrique plays favorites, he doesn’t admit mistakes, and he chooses himself over the players due to ego. All of that will come tearing apart at the seams with PSG’s latest Champions League embarrassment. Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Lionel Messi carried his reputation many years ago, and Enrique has been living off that unwarranted ego since then. He is the new Rafa Benitez.
