PARIS (Reuters) – Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez said playing Paris St-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals is the opportunity the five-times champions wanted in their bid to get back where they belong after crashing out in the group stage two years in a row.
Currently in a good vein of form, having won eight of their last 11 matches in all competitions, Xavi’s side have conceded only one goal in their last six matches and stand second in the LaLiga table, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Barca have qualified for the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in four years, something they did every season between 2007-08 and 2019-20.
“It is a key moment. The word after being out of the quarter-finals for four years is excitement,” Xavi told a press conference on Tuesday on the eve of the quarter-final first leg.
“We can dream again. We think we are at the best moment of the season, but we have one of the best teams in Europe in front of us, with one of the best coaches in Luis Enrique. It is a team built to win the Champions League.”
In 2017, Barca made it through to the last-16 after an epic come from behind tie against PSG, winning 6-1 in the second leg at the Camp Nou after losing the first leg 4-0 in Paris.
The Barca manager then was Luis Enrique, who recognised in his press conference earlier on Tuesday how the Catalan giants’ style is still a major influence on his work with PSG.
“I have a great relationship with (Luis Enrique),” Xavi said. “He has a team built to win the Champions League. We’re facing a very difficult opponent and we’re both looking for a similar style.
“We can be proud of having the Barca DNA – Luis Enrique, (Manchester City manager) Pep Guardiola or (Arsenal boss) Mikel Arteta.
“Tomorrow we’ll be looking for the same thing. From here on it’s up to the players to find the DNA that identifies us so much.
“Football is unpredictable but we’ll try to control the variations. Luis Enrique has a wide range of talent at his disposal but we’ll try to play them (PSG) as equals.”
(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas in Madrid; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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