Barcelona PSG match would be fairly even, says Koeman

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has assessed the crucial UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie between Barcelona and PSG as a fairly even match.

Barcelona will host PSG at Camp Nou on Tuesday, February 16 before travelling to France for the second leg in March and Koeman speaking after Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Alaves said it would be a fair match.

“I see the tie fairly even. We are in a good moment and we will have to be very good in every way to be able to win against them because they’re a great team.” Koeman said.

Barcelona and PSG have an identical problem with injuries to important players. Neymar is out and would not have a reunion at Camp Nou and Barcelona have injuries in defence forcing Koeman to deploy Frenkie De Jong as a centre back.

“Physically speaking, I can’t say it’s the best time to face PSG, we’re missing a lot of players. If we had all the players available, I’d say yes, now is the best time to play against PSG.” he said.

Barcelona moved ahead of Real Madrid who play today to second place after a 5-1 win over Alaves. Both are chasing packs behind Atletico Madrid who are eight points clear at the top of the table.