All the build-up, analysis and commentary of the Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg between Spanish giants Barcelona and the Kings of France PSG. Manually refresh page for the latest updates:
21.39: Well that is about it from me today. Thank you for joining as PSG just miss out on an emphatic win. At the end of the day, the psychological and physical impact Messi had on the game was the turning point. Bayern, Dortmund, Real Madrid and Barcelona are into the semi finals.
FT: Barcelona 1-1 PSG. (Barcelona win 3-3 on away goals). Messi came on, half-fit, butb changed the game and played a pivotal part in the build up to Pedro’s goal. The PSG dream is over for another year. One cannot knock their performance. If only Lavezzi had been able to convert some of the chances he had in the second half. they have qualified for their 6 consecutive Champions League final the Spaniards. No one has ever done that before. PSG can hold their heads high.
21.34: PSG have probably just had their last chance as Ibra’s header is caught by Valdes.
21.30: Barcelona have grinded the encounter to a halt here.
21.27: Thiago Silva is booked for a desperate challenge on Lionel Messi. Barca seriously wasting time here. Not a lot of class shown from the supposed best team in the world tonight who have had to draw (win) ugly.
21.24: Alex Song is on for David Villa.
21.23: David Beckham is set to come on. One assumes for Verratti. Lavezzi went off for Gameiro by the way. PSG must go all out now.
21.22: Kevin Gameiro set to come on.
21.21: Jordi Alba makes a meal of it as Lavezzi over runs his attempted challenge and makes contact with the Spaniards leg.
21.19: Could David Beckham potentially make something happen?
21.17: PSG have to go all out here, but this is the moment when Barcelona will be at their most dangerous. They will look to hold onto the ball for as long as possible whenever possible and PSG really need a bit of magic from one of the front 4.
21.14: It might hurt PSG fans this but Messi really was pivotal in the creation of that goal. His ability to accelerate like that may just have put Barca in the semis.
21.12: GOAL BARCELONA: LIONEL MESSI MANAGES TO ACCELERATE PAST THE TWO DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS AND HIS PASS TO XAVI IS CLEARED BY ALEX WHO CAN ONLY HAND THE BAL TO PEDRO WHO PILEDRIVES HIS SHOT INTO THE BACK OF THE NET. 1-1.
21.11: Marco Verratti has been an absolute monster at the heart of the PSG defence of midfield.
21.09: CHANCE: A quickly taken corner culminates in a heading one-two between Alex and Ibrahimovic, but the latter is just beaten to the ball by Valdes. PSG still with their chance but serious intent from Barca now.
21.08: Fair to say that Pastore has not made the most of his other chances tonight, despite scoring the goal which currently puts PSG into the semis. He has a shot from just outside the area which tamely rolls out of play.
21.06: Absolute siege on the PSG goal as Messi, Xavi and Iniesta all come close. Tempo is crazy right now.
21.05: Needless to say Barcelona are dominating possession and an absolutely brilliant sliding challenge from Alex just denies Iniesta.
21.03: SUBSTITUTIONS: David Villa off. Lionel Messi on. Adriano off. Marc Bartra on.
21.02: Another lovely move from Barca culminates in another awful shot from Dani Alves. He has been dire.
21.01: Messi wincing on the touchline. He really does not look fit.
21.00: CHANCE: A glorious chance for PSG to score again through Pastore who skews his shot wide. Meanwhile Adriano the Barcelona centre-back looks like he will be coming off shortly, his hamstring playing up.
20.59: Would PSG benefit from bringing on van der Wiel now? Jallet is really out of his depth and could with some serious support as Alba and Pedro continue to penetrate there.
20.58: Interesting. When Barcelona are deep in hot water their protestations at the referee are rather ugly. In fairness, they are not used to losing much.
20.56: You wouldn’t think PSG had just scored in all honesty. Ancelotti’s men are continuing with the same diligence going forward as before the goal. Alba has won a corner off Jallet though.
20.55: Guess what, Lionel Messi is warming up for the 1st time today.
20.53: Unbelievable the dream is on for PSG. Lovely link up by Ibra and Pastore still had it all to do as he cooly slotted past Valdes. As it stands, PSG are going through to the semis. They haven’t stopped either. Ibra forces a corner for Les Parisiens…
GOAL PSG: GOAL PASTORE!!!! IBRA AND PASTORE WITH SOME LOVELY LINK UP PLAY, LAVEZZI NEARLY TOOK THE BALL OFF HIM BUT REALISED HE WAS OFFSIDE AND ALLOWED PASTORE TO SLOT IT PAST VALDES!
20.50: Barcelona have settled into this second half slightly better then the Parisians. Fabregas smashes one over the bar but the possession is good for the Catalan side.
20.48: Jallet is the weak link for PSG at the moment. Barca getting the most joy down that left hand side as Jordi Alba manages to get a cross in and Barca consequentially win the corner.
20.45: The 2nd half begins. PSG have just over 45 minutes to take their chances and book a place in the last 4 with Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
20.31: HT: Barcelona 0-0 PSG. Well. An intriguing half. An even game, PSG probably having the better chances. Lavezzi has failed to find the finishing touch. Pedro and Lucas Moura have really impressed with their tirelessness down their respective wings and Iniesta has been extremely strong at the heart of the Barcelona midfield. Marco Verratti is generally doing a more than adequate job quelling the Catalan attack. Matuidi as it stands is not a miss.
20.30: Lovely build up from Barca again and Alex is panicked into thrashing the ball out for a corner. As we have established, Barcelona generally are not very good at those and another corner harmlessly flies by.
20.29: Dani Alves has had a very poor game so far. Really offering nothing down that right hand side for Barcelona going forward so far. He has bags of time but his attempted cross eludes everyone and goes out for a goal kick.
20.27: YELLOW CARD: First yellow of the game for Adriano who is reluctantly playing centre back today for a horrible challenge in Lucas Moura who nicked the ball away from the Barca man. Only going to make Adriano more uncomfortable that.
20.26: Stupid and selfish decision making by Fabregas as Barcelona clear the Parisian defensive midfielders again. Shot is wild and wayward.
20.24: Pastore livens up for the first time today and produces a clever pass into the path of Ibrahimovic. The Swede was just offside though.
20.23: A half chance for David Villa after the inital pass from Pedro. Villa honestly takes too long with it and pile drives it over the bar. Still, a decent chance.
20.20: Pedro has been causing all sorts of problems for Christophe Jallet down that left hand side and this time he beats the right back down the flank and manages to get his cross in but no teammates followed his run.
20.18: I doubt Jordi Alba will have a harder game this season. Lucas Moura’s pace has been simply immense so far. PSG with 2 consecutive corners here.
20.16: Half an hour gone here at the Camp Nou and Ancelotti will be pleased. His side have dominated in terms of opportunities, but the danger is always there from Barcelona. The game really hasn’t stopped. Verratti has worked tremendously to heckle the Barcelona attackers to force them into mistakes so far.
20.13: CHANCE: Ibrahimovic does excellently to initially get onto Verratti’s ball and then produce an unbelievable cross which sees Moura then denied by Valdes as the Brazilian uses his head.
20.12: You have to say Barcelona’s passing this evening really isn’t as crisp as usual. The moves lack fluidity and they are trying some rather ugly cross field balls to Dani Alves which keep being unable to find their target.
20.09: CHANCE: Lavezzi! Ibrahimovic plays him through and the Argentinian is just unable to get it past Vales who blacks it with his leg.
20.08: Iniesta shimmying from side to side but his shot is partially blocked and Sirigu is able very simply to pick that one up.
20.06: CHANCE: Some nice interplay down the left hand side as Pedro plays a ball along the 6 yard box and when the rebound falls to him off Sirigu, he hits the side netting.
20.05: PSG are very much holding their own. Even showing off some of their very own tiki-taca.
20.03: Another shot on goal from PSG from Lucas Moura is again wild. Promising signs if you’re for PSG tonight.
19.59: Nice move from PSG culminates in a low driven Lucas Moura shot which is easy enough for Valdes to deal with. Lavezzi also squares one up but it blazes over. No attempt by Barcelona to really close PSG down.
19.57: Iniesta attempts to lob Sirigu after Thiago Motta gives away the ball cheaply. Goves over. Lucas Moura makes a surging run dow the right hand side and is unlucky not to receive a free kick after being shoved by Jordi Alba.
19.55: Barcelona have probably settled down better but are disconcertingly giving away ball at the back to the lurking Lavezzi and Ibrahimovic.
19.53: More exciting build up from Barca culminates in a corner off Iniesta’s blocked shot by Jallet.
19.52: Fabregas trips over the ground and attempts to claim a penalty after he miscues a shot wide.
19.50: Thiago Silva uncharacteristically slips and a free kick is given as he pushes Sirigu out of the way in order to restart play. Free kick hits the wall.
19.49: Game has started with a high tempo. Lavezzi has had 2 half decent chances and down at the other end Pedro has only just been called offside. Wide open.
19.47: CHANCE: Barcelona’s Xavi has a free kick which goes just wide. Sirigu was beaten.
19.46: First foul of the day as Verratti takes away Fabregas’ legs.Free kick Barca. 25 yards out.
19.45: Incidentally good to see Tito Vilanova back in the dugout. Glad to see he has recuperated.
19.45: We are underway!
19.42: The theme is ringing around the stadium. Some idiot is shining a laser on the PSG players. Not an impressive way to start the action here.
19.41: Teams are about to come out. Warm hugs for former Barcelona left-back Maxwell from his former teammates.
19.35: Spanish media today claiming that when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was at Barcelona he only ever cared about himself. That’s Zlatan for you.
19.26: Jeremy Menez is not in the squad after pulling out with a last minute injury. The news is a little strange as he was moving fine in training at the Camp Nou yesterday.
19.24: Consequentially, Blaise Matuidi is suspended for this game and will surely be a big miss for Les Parisiens. Despite starting last week’s game, David Beckham will start on the bench tonight. Lionel Messi is also benched, not 100% fit since sustaining an injury in Paris last week.
19.22: If any of you are unaware the 1st leg finished 2-2 at the Parc des Princes last week Tuesday. Blaise Matuidi’s last minute equaliser gave PSG a fighting chance going into this leg. However, the Spaniards are no meagre opposition either.
19.21: Many thanks to Opta and the UEFA Champions League for that amalgamation of statistics.
19.19: So there you have it, the teams and the essential stats for tonight’s game. The warmest of greetings from your host as I look to guide you all through what is billed to be a European football classic.
STAT: Xavi has completed the most passes out of anyone in the Champions League this season, 395 more than the man with the 2nd most completed passes. (930)
STAT: Barcelona are the side with the best pass completion rate in the Champions League this season. (84%)
STAT: Thiago Silva has made the most interceptions out of anyone in the Champions League this season. 33.
STAT: Barcelona have never lost a Champions League game when Lionel Messi has come off the bench.
STAT: Barcelona have scored the opening goal in their last 4 encounters vs PSG.
STAT: Zlatan Ibrahimovic has 6 assists in the Champions League this season. More than anyone else.
STAT: FC Barcelona have won their last six home UEFA Champions League quarter-final ties, scoring 19 goals in the process.
19.09: PSG Subs: Douchez, Sakho, Armand, van der Wiel, Chantôme, Beckham, Gameiro
19.09: Barcelona Subs: Pinto, Bartra, Montoya, Thiago Alcantara, A.Song, A.Sanchez, Messi
19.06: Barcelona XI: Valdes, Alves, Pique, Adriano, Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Pedro, Fabregas, Villa.
19.05: PSG XI: Sirigu, Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell, Lucas, Verratti, Thiago Motta, Pastore, Ibrahimovic, Lavezzi.
