Barcelona and PSG are playing their match for the 2nd round of the League Phase of the Champions League at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, the temporary home of Barcelona.
Facts
- The game is not taking place at Camp Nou, as Barcelona’s home stadium is undergoing renovation. Instead, Barca will host PSG in the city’s Olympic Stadium.
- 3-2-2 record for Barcelona at home against PSG.
- Six of their seven duels at Barcelona saw BTTS.
- Their last three such games saw BTTS & Over 4.5 goals.
- PSG have won two straight at Barcelona, both 1-4 triumphs.
- Six of PSG’s last seven Champions League games saw over 2.5 goals.
- Six consecutive Champions League games with over 2.5 goals for Barca, while five of them also saw over 3.5 goals.
- Five of Barcelona’s last six matches in the competition featured first-half goals.
Betting Tip: Barcelona – Paris Saint-Germain
A duel between two of the top teams in Europe and the world, as well as two favourites to win this competition. There's no reason to risk picking a winner here; we prefer to count on them scoring according to their talent level.
- Recommendation: Over 3.5 goals
- Odds: 2.00 (at the time of writing)
Barcelona
Barcelona struggled away at Newcastle but were able to take the points, thanks to their players’ individual brilliance, earning a 1-2 win to start their League Phase run on a positive note.
Marcus Rashford was the star of the show, scoring both goals of the game. He gave his team the lead in the 58th minute and doubled it just nine minutes later. Manager Hansi Flick was overjoyed with the Englishman.
The Magpies tried to mount a comeback late, though they only managed to score once with Anthony Gordon in the 90th minute of the game.
Compared to last season, Barcelona has been deploying a deeper defensive line, perhaps in response to its troubles in the knockout stage.
As a reminder, perhaps the biggest reason they failed to advance past Inter in the Champions League was their extremely high defensive line, which was consistent throughout the campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain was dominant in the beginning of their title defence, smashing Atalanta at home (4-0), in a game where Atalanta’s best player was their… goalkeeper.
Marquinhos struck first for PSG in the 3rd minute of the game, and Georgian superstar Kvaratskhelia doubled his team’s lead in the 39th minute. Barcola missed a penalty in the 44th minute, but the team was not fazed.
Mendes scored six minutes into the second half to put PSG three goals up, and Ramos added the final cherry on top in stoppage time.
PSG is already dominating the French league, showing that they have strong inhibitions to repeat both domestic and European success. PSG superstar Ousmane Dembele won the Golden Ball, further boosting the club’s prestige.
