Barcelona face Parc des Princes test

Fresh from beating Valencia CF in the last 16, Paris Saint-Germain FC will now look to surmount an even bigger obstacle from the other side of the Pyrenees in the form of four-time winners FC Barcelona.

• PSG are competing in only their second UEFA Champions League quarter-final but enter the contest with several sources of optimism. They are unbeaten at home in Europe for over six years, they have Carlo Ancelotti – a European Cup winner as both player and coach – and also a little bit of history on their side given their only previous UEFA Champions League quarter-final appearance ended in victory over Barcelona.

• This tie features the reunion of three PSG players – Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Motta and Maxwell – with their old club but while Barcelona will know all about that trio, if they are to reach a sixth successive semi-final, they may well have to improve on their away form in this season's competition. The Spanish club have already lost twice on their travels, at Celtic FC in the group stage and at AC Milan in the round of 16.

Past meetings
• Luis Fernandez's PSG prevailed 3-2 on aggregate when the clubs met in the 1994/95 quarter-finals. George Weah (57) cancelled out Igor Korneev's opening strike (48) in the first leg and the French club then came from behind to win in Paris. Although José María Bakero (49) put Johan Cruyff's visitors in front, PSG struck twice in the closing stages with Raí (72) and Vincent Guérin (83) both beating goalkeeper Carles Busquets, father of the current Barcelona midfielder Sergio.

• The lineups for that Parc des Princes encounter on 15 March 1995 were:
PSG: Lama, Cobos, Kombouaré, Colleter, Bravo, Le Guen, Raí, Guérin, Valdo, Ginola, Weah.
Barcelona: Busquets, Ferrer, Nadal, Koeman, Sergi, Iglesias, Eusebio, Hagi (Abelardo 72), Bakero, Stoichkov, Beguiristain (José Mari 58).

• Barcelona avenged that loss when Bobby Robson's team overcame Ricardo Gomes's PSG 1-0 in the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam, Ronaldo scoring the only goal in the 37th minute.

• The lineups for that final on 14 May 1997 were:
Barcelona: Vítor Baía, Ferrer, Abelardo, Fernando Couto, Sergi, Figo, Popescu (Amor 46), Guardiola, De la Peña (Stoichkov 85), Luis Enrique (Pizzi 89), Ronaldo.
PSG: Lama, Domi, Le Guen (Dely Valdés 68), N'Gotty, Fournier (Algerino 58), Leroy, Guérin, Raí, Cauet, Leonardo, Loko (Pouget 78).

• The clubs drew 2-2 in a pre-season friendly in Paris on 4 August last year, with Barcelona winning 4-1 in the shoot-out that followed. Barcelona led 2-0 through Rafinha and Lionel Messi's spot kick before the home side replied with goals from Ibrahimović, a penalty, and Zoumane Camara.

• The lineups were:
PSG: Douchez (Sirigu 46), Maxwell (Armand 46), Sakho (Tiéné 62), Alex (Camara 46), Jallet (Biševac 61), Pastore, Bodmer (Hoarau 72), Rabiot (Verratti 46), Lavezzi (Luyindula 61), Ibrahimović (Matuidi 61), Nenê (Gameiro 46).
Barcelona: Valdés (Pinto 46), Planas (Montoya 46), Mascherano (Piqué 61), Puyol (Bartra 46), Alves (Tello 78), Roberto (Xavi 63), Busquets (Dos Santos 46), Rafinha (Fàbregas 62), Afellay (Iniesta 62), Messi, Sánchez (Pedro 63).

Match background
• PSG have a 23-match unbeaten home run in Europe stretching back to a 4-2 reverse against Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC in the UEFA Cup group stage in November 2006. They had won seven in a row at the Parc des Princes prior to the 1-1 draw with Valencia CF which secured a 3-2 aggregate success in the round of 16.

• PSG's home record against Spanish visitors is W5 D3 L1. That solitary loss was a 3-1 defeat by RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2000/01 UEFA Champions League second group stage.

• PSG are looking to reach their second UEFA Champions League semi-final. They last appeared in a European quarter-final when losing to FC Dynamo Kyiv in the last eight of the 2008/09 UEFA Cup.

• Barcelona are appearing in their 15th European Cup quarter-final and have a record of 12 wins and two defeats (including that PSG loss) from 14 previous appearances. They had no quarter-final stage to negotiate when reaching the final in 1991/92 and 1993/94.

• The Blaugrana have won their last six UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and their last defeat at this stage was against Juventus back in 2002/03. They last lost the away leg of a quarter-final at Panathinaikos FC in 2001/02.

• Barcelona's record away to French sides is W3 D2 L2. Their most recent encounter with Ligue 1 opponents was the 6-3 aggregate success over Olympique Lyonnais in the 2008/09 round of 16. They last won on French soil at Lyon in the 2001/02 first group stage, Xavi Hernández and Carles Puyol appearing in a 3-2 victory.

• Barcelona's last trip to Paris for a competitive fixture provided one of their most fabled nights – the 2-1 victory over Arsenal FC in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final at the Stade de France.

Team ties
• Ancelotti suffered a UEFA Champions League semi-final defeat by Barcelona in 2005/06, his Milan side succumbing 1-0 at home in the first leg before a goalless draw at the Camp Nou. The previous year Milan faced Barcelona in the group stage, winning 1-0 at home but losing 2-1 away.

• PSG's defeat of Valencia in the last 16 was the first time as a coach that Ancelotti had got the better of Spanish opposition over two legs. His Milan side also lost to Deportivo in the 2003/04 quarter-finals, the then holders throwing away a 4-1 first-leg advantage in a 4-0 defeat in Galicia. His Juventus team lost 4-0 at RC Celta de Vigo to crash out of the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup in the fourth round.

• As a player Ancelotti's record against Spanish clubs in two-legged contests was W3 L2. His most high-profile encounter came when he scored in Milan's 5-0 defeat of Real Madrid CF in the 1988/89 European Champion Clubs' Cup semi-finals. The previous summer he had helped Italy beat Spain 1-0 at the 1988 UEFA European Championship.

• Motta began his career in Barcelona's youth ranks in 1999 and in eight years in Catalonia made 96 Liga appearances, scoring six goals. He won two league titles and was an unused substitute in the 2006 UEFA Champions League final triumph against Arsenal.

• Maxwell joined Barcelona in 2009, leaving for PSG in January 2012. He made 57 Liga appearances and won two league titles but did not feature in Barcelona's 2011 UEFA Champions League final victory.

• Ibrahimović spent 2009/10 at Barcelona, winning the UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup and Spanish Liga title. He scored 16 goals in 29 league outings – and four in ten in the UEFA Champions League.

• Thiago Silva headed Milan's added-time equaliser in a 2-2 UEFA Champions League draw at the Camp Nou in September 2011. He was in the Milan side beaten 3-2 at home by Barcelona in the return.

• Motta was a second-half substitute and Salvatore Sirigu sat on the bench as Italy lost 4-0 to Spain in the UEFA EURO 2012 final in Kyiv. Jordi Alba scored the second goal and Gerard Piqué, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Cesc Fàbregas also featured.

• Gregory van der Wiel's Netherlands team lost the 2010 FIFA World Cup final to a Spain side including Piqué, Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Fàbregas, Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa.

• Blaise Matuidi, Mamadou Sakho and Jérémy Ménez played in the France team that earned a 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with Spain in Madrid on 16 October last year.

• Iniesta, Xavi, Fàbregas, Pedro, Busquets and Alba all started that game, with the first five playing in the return, a 1-0 win for Spain on 26 March, along with Víctor Valdés, Piqué and Villa. Matuidi, Ménez and Christophe Jallet were in the France side.

• Éric Abidal played for AS Monaco FC, LOSC Lille and Lyon before joining Barcelona in 2007.

• Alex Song began his career with Corsican club SC Bastia, making 32 Ligue 1 appearances in 2004/05.

• David Beckham featured seven times for Real Madrid CF against Barcelona and his record in the fixture reads W3 D1 L3.