Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain: Champions League history and head-to-head record

Barcelona have been drawn to play Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 Champions League, with the winner facing either Atlético Madrid or Borussia Dortmund in the last four.

The first leg of the last-eight clash will be played in Paris on Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 April, one week before the return game in Montjuïc (Tuesday 16 or Wednesday 17 April).

2023/24 Champions League quarter-finals draw

Luis Enrique returns to Barcelona, Mbappé hopes for repeat hat-trick

There will be subplots aplenty as the Spanish and French sides go head to head in the knockout sages for the third time in 10 seasons, with former Barça boss Luis Enrique hoping to eliminate his old club and coming up against counterpart Xavi Hernández, who he both played alongside and managed in Catalonia.

On top of that, Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick at Camp Nou and a penalty at the Parc des Princes were the teams were last drawn together in the round of 16 in 2020-21, is expected to join Barça’s rivals Real Madrid this summer, giving him added motivation to inflict more pain on La Blaugrana.

There have been some memorable meetings between the teams in the Champions League over the years, especially on the last two occasions they have met.

Barcelona vs PSG: previous meetings

2020/21

After being thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the previous season’s tournament and losing 3-0 to Juventus in the group stage, Barça’s UCL struggles continued at the hands of Mbappé. As mentioned, the attacker scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win for PSG in the first leg in Spain to all but seal the French team’s passage into the quarter-finals with 90 minutes to spare.

A 1-1 draw in Paris followed, leading to a 5-2 aggregate win (Lionel Messi scored both Barcelona goals) for PSG, who eventually lost to Manchester City in the semis.

2016/17

Does a more memorable knockout Champions League knockout tie exist? PSG again looked to be home and dry after the first leg of the round-of-16 meeting, which they incredibly won 4-0 at the Parc des Princes, with Ángel Di María scoring twice.

But a second-leg meltdown followed, three goals after the 88th minute, including two from Neymar, seeing Barça turn the tie around in incredible fashion. Sergi Roberto’s winner prevented the French team from progressing on away goals and sent the Catalans into the quarter-finals, where they lost to Juve.

2014/15

A significantly less dramatic tie in the quarter-finals, as Barcelona progressed with the mimimim of fuss and went on to lift the trophy, their most recent victory in the competition. Luis Suárez scored twice in a 3-1 first-leg win in Paris, with Neymar repeating the trick in a 2-0 victory at Camp Nou.

Those were the teams’ third and fourth meetings that season, as they had also faced each other in the group stage. PSG posted a fine 3-2 home victory over Luis Enrique’s Barça, who got their revenge in a 3-1 win in the final group game in Catalonia, which saw them top the group.

2012/13

Barcelona again came out on top in the quarter-finals, but only just. After a 2-2 draw in the French capital, in which Xavi and Blaise Matuidi traded late goals, PSG took the lead after half-time at Camp Nou but ended up losing on away goals thanks to Pedro’s equaliser with 20 minutes to go.

1996/97

The only competitive meeting between the teams not in the Champions League. Barcelona won the now defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup for the fourth time in their history by defeating the Parisians in the final in Rotterdam. Brazilian striker Ronaldo scored the only goal from the penalty spot before half-time as a Barça team also containing Luis Enrique, Pep Guardiola and Luis Figo lifted the trophy.

1994/95

The first time the teams faced off. PSG got through their group by winning six games out of six and continued their good form in the first knockout round, which was then the quarter-finals. Following a 1-1 draw in Barcelona, in which 1995 Ballon d’Or winner George Weah found the net, two goals in the final 20 minutes at the Parc des Princes turned the tie around for the hosts, who had fallen behind earlier in the second half.

All in all, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain have met in 13 competitive fixtures (12 in the Champions League), with the Spaniards winning five times (including once in the Cup Winners’ Cup), the French side on four occasions, with four draws.