Paris v Barcelona background

Laurent Blanc faces one of his former clubs as his Paris Saint-Germain side host FC Barcelona in Group F.

Previous meetings
• Barcelona beat Paris on away goals after two draws – 2-2 at Parc des Princes, 1-1 at the Camp Nou – in the 2012/13 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

• The lineups in Paris on 2 April 2013 were:
Paris: Sirigu, Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva, Maxwell, Beckham (Verratti 70), Matuidi, Lucas, Pastore (Gameiro 76), Ibrahimović, Lavezzi (Ménez 66).
Barcelona: Valdés, Daniel Alves, Piqué, Mascherano (Bartra 84), Alba, Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, Sánchez, Messi (Fàbregas 46), Villa (Tello 81).

• Barcelona's only win in five games against Paris was the 1-0 triumph in the 1996/97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final. Luis Enrique played for Barcelona but Blanc, then a Barça player, did not feature in the final.

• The Parisian club's only victory was a 2-1 home success in the 1994/95 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals (3-2 agg).

Match background

Paris
• The French champions are looking for their first Group F victory after an opening draw at AFC Ajax (1-1).

• They are unbeaten in 29 European home games (19 wins, 10 draws) dating back to a 4-2 loss to Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2006.

• Blanc's men won four of their five home games in the 2013/14 competition, beating SL Benfica (3-0), Olympiacos FC (2-1), Bayer 04 Leverkusen (2-1) and Chelsea FC (3-1).

• Their home record against Spanish visitors is W5 D4 L1. That solitary loss was a 3-1 defeat by RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League second group stage.

Barcelona
• Barcelona had an opening home victory over APOEL FC (1-0) but they have lost four and won just two of their last eight UEFA Champions League away games – at Celtic FC (1-0) on matchday two last season and Manchester City FC (2-0) in the round of 16.

• Barcelona's record away to French sides is W3 D3 L2.

• They last won on French soil at Olympique Lyonnais in the 2001/02 first group stage, Xavi Hernández appearing in a 3-2 victory.

Coach and player links
• Blanc and Luis Enrique played together at the Camp Nou during the former's solitary campaign there (1996/97).

• Luis Enrique was in the Real Madrid CF side knocked out of Europe two years in a row by Paris: first in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (3-1 h, 1-4 a), then in the 1993/94 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals (0-1 h, 1-1 a).

• Blanc was in charge of the France side beaten 2-0 by Spain in the UEFA EURO 2012 quarter-finals. Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Pedro Rodríguez all featured.

• Zlatan Ibrahimović spent 2009/10 at Barcelona, winning four trophies and scoring 16 goals in 29 Liga outings.

• Academy product Thiago Motta made 96 Liga appearances for Barcelona, scoring six goals. He won two Spanish titles and was an unused substitute for their 2006 UEFA Champions League final win.

• Maxwell made 57 Liga appearances for Barcelona (2009–12) and won two league titles but was not involved in the 2011 UEFA Champions League final.

• Ivan Rakitić lost 3-1 with Croatia against David Luiz and Thiago Silva's Brazil in the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening match.

• Luiz scored a goal and put a penalty past Claudio Bravo to help Brazil beat Chile on spot kicks after a 1-1 draw in the World Cup round of 16.

• Silva headed an added-time equaliser for AC Milan in a 2-2 draw at Barcelona on the opening night of the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League.

• Yohan Cabaye, Lucas Digne and Blaise Matuidi played in France's 1-0 home friendly victory over a Spain side including Busquets and Pedro on 4 September.

• Marc Bartra and Martín Montoya helped Spain win the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final 4-2 against Marco Verratti's Italy.

• Motta, Salvatore Sirigu and Gregory van der Wiel have lost major finals against Spain – Motta and unused substitute Sirigu with Italy (0-4, UEFA EURO 2012) and Van der Wiel with the Netherlands (0-1, 2010 World Cup).

Match facts

Paris

• Jean-Christophe Bahebeck marked only his third league start for Paris with the equaliser on Saturday as the capital club were held 1-1 at Toulouse FC.

• Paris are ten games unbeaten in 2014/15 having kicked off their campaign on 2 August with a 2-0 victory in the domestic Super Cup against French Cup holders EA Guingamp.

• Paris have won just two of their last ten away games, dating back to the start of April.

• Ibrahimović was Ligue 1 top scorer in each of the last two seasons, registering 56 times in 67 appearances in all. He has five in as many top-flight outings this term.

• Ibrahimović has missed the last two games with a left heel problem. Ezequiel Lavezzi sat out the Toulouse game with a hamstring injury.

• George Weah is Paris' club record scorer in the UEFA Champions League with 15 goals. Ibrahimović has 13 for the club.

• Paris captain Silva has not played this term after injuring his right thigh in a 2-1 pre-season friendly victory over SSC Napoli on 11 August.

• Ibrahimović became Sweden's highest scorer – overtaking Sven Rydell (49) – with two goals in a 2-0 win against Estonia on 3 September. He won his 100th cap five days later in a 1-1 draw in Austria.

Barcelona

• Neymar scored his first hat-trick of the season as Barcelona overwhelmed Granada CF 6-0 at the Camp Nou on Saturday.

• Two goals for Lionel Messi took him to 401 for club and country.

• Xavi Hernández made his first Liga start of the season on Saturday.

• Barcelona have not conceded a goal in seven matches this season. Including the final game of last term, their defence has not been breached in 671 minutes.

• The Azulgrana's perfect record this campaign ended when they drew 0-0 at Málaga CF on 24 September, a match in which Barcelona failed to register a shot on target. Douglas made his Barcelona debut against Málaga.

• Munir El Haddadi, the top scorer in the inaugural UEFA Youth League last season, marked his senior Barcelona debut with a goal as Luis Enrique began his reign with a 3-0 Liga win against Elche CF on 24 August. Sandro Ramírez, another academy graduate taking his Barcelona bow, struck the only goal at Villarreal CF a week later.

• El Haddadi made his Under-21 and senior international debuts for Spain against Hungary and FYROM respectively on 4 and 8 September.