Paris Saint-Germain welcome Barcelona to the Parc des Princes this evening in a huge Champions League encounter between the competition’s top two sides.

Luis Enrique’s men are chasing a third successive European crown and have made an impressive start to their title defence, winning both of their opening league phase matches.

The French champions thrashed Slovan Bratislava 6-1 before producing an excellent performance to beat Manchester City 4-2 at the Etihad Stadium last week.

PSG have also maintained their strong domestic form and head into tonight’s clash on the back of a win over Strasbourg.

Barcelona have been equally impressive under Hansi Flick, winning all nine of their opening La Liga matches to establish a five-point lead at the top of the table.

The Catalan giants have also scored nine goals in their opening two Champions League games, beating Feyenoord 5-1 and Galatasaray 4-1.

Flick will be boosted by the return of Raphinha, who has scored 14 goals this season, although Barcelona have several defensive injury concerns ahead of the trip to Paris.

PSG have enjoyed the better of recent meetings between the sides, losing just once in their last five encounters.

101GreatGoals brings you all the team news ahead of the 8pm kick-off.

PSG team news

PSG: Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Kvaratskhelia, Ruiz, Dembele, Doue, Vitinha, Hernandez, Pacho, Neves

PSG Substitutes: Chevalier, Mouak, Beraldo, Zabarnyi, Torres, Akliouche, Digne, Godts, Mayulu, Fernandez, Zaire-Emery, Ndjantou

Barcelona team news

Barcelona: Garcia, Cancelo, Cubarsi, Pedri, Yamal, Raphinha, Espart, Gordon, Martin, Olmo, Bernal

Barcelona Substitutes: Szczesny, Livakovic, Balde, Farinas, Gavi, Lopez, Jesus, Adeyemi, Rodri, De Jong, Abdelkarim, Campos

Champions League table

• Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/8-finals)
• Position 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 : Promotion – Champions League (Play Offs: 1/16-finals)

Recent Form & Stats for Paris Saint Germain v Barcelona

• The teams have met 16 times in UEFA competition with six wins each, four draws and 29 goals apiece.
• Paris have lost only one of their last five meetings with Barcelona (W3 D1), triumphing 2-1 in Spain on Matchday 2 last season. Ferran Torres, now of Paris, put the home side ahead only for Mayulu and Gonçalo Ramos to score late in each half and give Paris the points.
• That was also Paris’ third successive away win against Barcelona, with 10 goals scored and three conceded.
• However, Barça have been victorious in two of their last four games at Parc des Princes (D1 L1) including the last, a 3-2 win in the 2023/24 quarter-final first leg in which Raphinha scored twice – although Paris won the return in Spain 4-1 despite another Raphinha strike, Ousmane Dembélé and Vitinha scoring the French side’s first two goals.
• Paris have lost only three of their last 14 games against Spanish clubs (W8 D3), most recently drawing 0-0 at Athletic Club on Matchday 6 last season.
• Barcelona have lost three of their last four games versus French opponents (W1). They have won only four of their last 11 games involving Ligue 1 sides (D2 L5).

Prediction for PSG v Barcelona

Both sides are brilliant going forward but we give PSG the edge defensively, despite their recent record. It should be a fascinating battle in midfield with Rodri and Pedri on one side and Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves on the other.