Year in and year out, PSG fans hope that this will be the year their team breaks the mold and legitimately becomes a contender to win the Champions League. Unfortunately, this probably isn't going to be said year. The Parisians have run into a buzz saw in the Round of 16 in the form of Barcelona. Clearly, if the French side is going to have any chance to advance into the quarters, winning this match at home is a necessity before returning to Spanish soil.
This Champions League duel will go down Tuesday, February 14, 2017, at 2:45 p.m. ET at the Parc des Princes. The match will be televised live on FOX Sports 1.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
PSG +230
Barcelona +117
Draw +260
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
Barcelona knows that an away goal and even a 1-1 result is pretty darn good for it, and we have to imagine that this is going to be a match played relatively close to the vest as a result. The total is still somewhat high by UCL standards at 2.5 with -127 vig on the over, but this is really due to the fact that the Catalans have one of the top offenses in the entire world.
PSG is a rather sizeable dog to win this match at +230, and that's why it's a whopping +300 underdog to get out of this round. Barcelona is basically a little less than 50/50 to take the advantage here in Paris, as it's set at +117 on the moneyline.
How They Got Here
The signs are already here for PSG to struggle here in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. The team only went 1-2-0 at home in the opening round of the tournament, scoring just six goals in spite of the fact that Ludogorets Razgrad and FC Basel were both in this group and combined to tally just five points in the six matches each played. What's most disturbing about this season is that the Parisians probably aren't winning the Ligue 1 this year. AS Monaco only has three points on PSG at this point, but the goal differential of +32 is just nowhere near what Monaco has at +52.
Barcelona won Group C, and that wasn't quite as easy as it would have seemed. The Catalans had to fight through a group with Manchester City, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic, all teams which had a lot of potential this year in the UCL. That said, Barca managed 15 points out of a possible 18, and the one loss at Man City was certainly forgivable. Why is this match so important for PSG? Because Barcelona kicked the snot out of its foes at Camp Nou in the opening round of this tournament by a 15-0 margin and easily took three points from each of the opponents in Group C.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
The big issue we have with PSG is the fact that its best player from over the course of the last several years, Zlatan Ibrahimovic isn't here anymore. Edinson Cavani has been here and done this in the past, but he can't do this on his own in all likelihood.
Barcelona might not be having the best year in the world in the Champions League, but the bottom line is that PSG is going to have to deal with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, the three of which combined to score 14 goals over the course of the first round of this tournament. Keep in mind that these three only played in five matches apiece and didn't even play in the sixth in group play.
Barca is flat out the better team here, and we have to think it's going to get out of this first match against PSG with a victory to take the pressure off for the return trip to Camp Nou.
Champions League Odds: Barcelona 2, PSG 1
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