Find all the information regarding the second leg match between PSG and FC Barcelona, in Champions League.
Stakes: Win… that’s all. A 3-2 defeat, one goal behind. The team will need to excel in a week during the return match. But this season, Paris has been quite poor in the Champions League, with two heavy away defeats. So, will it be different in Barcelona? Maybe. It will already be a crucial match. A loss or a draw, and it’s elimination. With their backs against the wall, the Parisians will have to bounce back. A narrow 1-0 win is enough to take Barcelona into extra time and make the Catalans doubt, since away goals count double. A 2-0 win and it’s qualification. 2-1? Extra time again…
The referee: Istvan Kovacs will be the main referee for the Champions League quarter-final second leg between FC Barcelona and PSG on Tuesday night at 9 p.m. The Romanian will be assisted by his compatriots Vasile Florin Marinescu and Ovidiu Artene, while Horaiu Fenic will act as the fourth official. Germans Marco Fritz and Bastian Dankert will be in charge of the video assistant.
With substantial experience, having officiated in over 500 matches, Kovacs has already made 21 appearances as the main referee in the Champions League, including three in the knockout stages. Parisians have encountered him twice in this competition, against Galatasaray in 2019 in a 5-0 victory, and more recently against Newcastle in a PSG defeat (4-1) earlier this season.
Although he has never refereed Barcelona in the Champions League, Kovacs officiated in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 between Napoli and Barcelona, which ended in a 1-1 draw in the 2021-2022 season. It is also worth noting that Kovacs sparked anger from Marseille’s executives last March when he was appointed to referee the Europa League round of 16 second leg, which ended in a 3-1 defeat for Marseille.
Not at Camp Nou
Kickoff Time, Streaming and Broadcasting Channel: The match will be broadcasted live on Canal+ this Tuesday night at 9 p.m CET. Access to this channel is by subscription. International listing: see here.
The Stadium: PSG will not play against Barcelona at Camp Nou, the scene of the comeback in 2017. Barcelona plays its home matches at Montjuic since the beginning of the season. 60,000 seats, while Camp Nou is being renovated. But PSG enjoyed Camp Nou in 2021 during an eighth leg of the Champions League with a hat-trick… from Kylian Mbappé (1-4). Maybe Mbappé will also be eager to bury Barcelona, who will be their arch-rival next season… with Real Madrid. There’s nothing left to do but wait…
