Theoretically, a 4-0 lead should be good enough for PSG to get into the quarterfinals of the Champions League, giving it a massive victory over a Barcelona side that was once favored to win this tournament. That said, Barca is still getting a bit of publicity and backing from pundits, giving belief that they can be the ones to overturn such an epically bad performance to advance. They've got 90 minutes to do anything about it, and anything less than four goals against the best team in France will send them out of the tourney at the Round of 16.
At 2:45 p.m. ET, tune into FOX Sports 1 for live television coverage of this Champions League match on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, at Camp Nou.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Barcelona -215
PSG +515
Draw +392
Over/Under 3
Odds Analysis
The total in this match tells you everything you need to know. Barcelona needs goals, and it needs a heck of a lot of them. The Catalan side is -215 on the moneyline and is favored by a full ball on the Asian Handicap. It's the total of a flat 3 with -137 vig on the over that is the telltale sign here, though.
The fear though, is that Barcelona could go through the first half scoreless and virtually give up from there, knowing that four in the second stanza against a very good PSG side isn't going to happen. But this first half could be a crazy rampage, knowing that goals and early ones at that are the only thing that could keep Barca in this.
The First Leg
The biggest problem that Barcelona is going to have to figure out is how to turn this around after its worst 90 minutes in years and years. The team was outclassed in every sense of the word, and it was really lucky to not leave the Parc des Princes with worse than a four-goal margin to overturn.
Angel Di Maria was the hero for the Parisians, giving them a brace, including the goals that opened the ledger 18 minutes in and the one that effectively broke Barcelona's back in the 55th to make it 3-0. Edinson Cavani finished the tie off with a strike in the 71st, and again, it was very fortunate that the Spanish side wasn't beaten by more than the four goals.
A team that very often manages to put double digits of shots on target had just seven attempts and one on net, and though it had possession 57 percent of the time, Barcelona rarely threatened Kevin Trapp in net.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
It would be easy to pick Barcelona here. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez are capable of tremendous things, and let's not forget that there are other offensive options as well with Andres Iniesta and Rafinha who will be available as well. Jordi Alba and Gerard Pique are going to be asked to abandon their posts at the back to push forward quite a bit as well.
Here's the thing, though. If Barcelona surrenders a goal in this match, it's all over. The Catalan side would need six at that point to advance, and that flat out isn't happening. And with the way Barca is going to have to play this match, would you put it past Di Maria to add more to his ledger in that sort of Zlatan Ibrahimovic role in the middle of this offense?
PSG isn't going to be the pick that most make here, but it's the one that we're going to go for with that Asian Handicap on our side. We don't think it's a given that Barcelona is even winning this match, as the argument could be made that in spite of the fact that the team has thrashed Celta Vigo and Sporting by a combined score of 11-1 in its last two matches, this is a task that is just too tall. The Parisians might actually have the better of these two teams.
Champions League Odds: Barcelona 1, PSG 1
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