LONDON: Barcelona and Paris St Germain hold such commanding leads in their Champions League quarter-final ties that a place in the last four looks all but certain.
But European club football’s most prestigious competition has a habit of upsetting the odds.
Barcelona and PSG have very recent memories of how quickly things can change.
Barcelona were 4-2 up on aggregate against PSG early in the second leg of last year’s quarter-finals — only to lose 6-4.
In 2017 PSG led 4-0 after the first leg of a round of 16 game between the two in Paris, but famously lost 6-1 at Camp Nou.
Part of what makes the Champions League such compelling viewing is the fragility of even the most commanding leads, which is why nothing can be taken for granted ahead of Tuesday’s second leg matches.
Leading 4-0 against Borussia Dortmund, it would take the unlikeliest of collapses in Germany to prevent Hansi Flick’s team from booking their place in the semi-finals, confirming the Catalan club’s reemergence as a genuine contender to win European football’s biggest prize.
This year marks a decade since Barca won the last of their five European Cups to date, when a side coached by Luis Enrique and spearheaded by Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez beat Juventus 3-1 in Berlin.
That completed a treble after they had also claimed La Liga and the Copa del Rey, and meant that in 10 seasons they had won the Champions League four times and reached at least the semi-finals on a total of eight occasions.
However, the last decade has seen Barca lose their way on the field amid the off-pitch financial troubles which caused the departure of Messi, their greatest ever player, in 2021.
This season is on track to be their best since the end of the Messi era, as Flick’s side lie four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with seven games to go and also have the Copa del Rey final to come against their greatest rivals at the end of this month.
With Messi’s heir apparent Lamine Yamal firing alongside Raphinha and the veteran Robert Lewandowski, Barcelona look back to their best, particularly against top opposition.
But the hosts are taking inspiration from Liverpool’s comeback six years ago when the eventual winners scored four at Anfield in the return leg to reach the Champions League final, after a 3-0 loss in Catalonia.
“We can remember the [Liverpool] game — I can remember it. But that was then and now we’re in 2024-25. We know the situation — we didn’t play well in the first leg,” Dortmund coach Niko Kovac told reporters on Monday.
“We want to show a different face tomorrow and we want to win. By how much, nobody can say now.
“Miracles happen all the time, but Barcelona have not lost a game in 2025, which makes the challenge much more difficult. It won’t be easy.
“We have to be there from the first minute tomorrow and get the fans on our side. We’ll only get the necessary wind from them, the willingness to run, performance and passion.”
At PSG, the post-Kylian Mbappe era is going just fine. A record-extending 13th Ligue 1 title has already been sealed and there have been standout performances in the Champions League.
After struggling early on in the tournament, wins against Manchester City and Liverpool have underlined PSG’s progress under Luis Enrique this season, with an exciting young team that is full of flair.
While less reliant on the individual brilliance of long-time talisman Mbappe, PSG has been driven by the outstanding form of Ousmane Dembele, who is realising the potential that convinced Barcelona to pay up to 147 million euros (then $173 million) when signing him from Dortmund in 2017. A run of 24 goals in 18 games between December and March established him as one of the deadliest forwards in Europe.
Leading 3-1 against Aston Villa after the first leg, PSG look in control, but Villa manager Unai Emery said his players must make home advantage count and draw energy from their supporters in the return leg.
“Our expectation is to get a good result in the second leg,” Emery, who has previously managed PSG, told reporters on Monday.
“PSG have a lot of experience playing in away matches. They are playing in France and Europe and we have experience as well.
“But we will be connecting with our supporters and transmitting the energy… if we do, tactically and individually, good things on the field, the supporters are going to up our energy and help us a lot.
“They are going to transmit that energy always for our players.”
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2025