Xavi goal is clincher for Barcelona

4Apr 2013

Bajnokok Ligája

Despite conceding a stoppage-time equaliser, Christian Crowther suggests it's still very much advantage Barcelona heading into the second leg at the Camp Nou...

As far as knockout European football goes, it doesn't get much more exciting than Barcelona's trip to the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night.

The net result was a 2-2 draw, although the match itself had it all: incident, controversy, last-minute drama and even a 37-year-old English bloke anchoring in midfield. But, where does it leave the two sides' chances of making it to the semi-finals?

Well, on the surface that stoppage-time equaliser for Paris St-Germain felt like a winner for the French side, who had fought very hard to get back into the match after

Lionel Messi's crisply finished opener (albeit Zlatan Ibrahimovic's equaliser was clearly offside), only to seemingly be undone by Xavi's 89th-minute penalty.

However, although Blaise Matuidi's 94th-minute equaliser understandably sent Paris St-Germain fans into raptures, the damage of a second away goal for Barcelona will in all likelihood prove the clinching factor in the tie.

We have already witnessed what happened to AC Milan in their return leg at the Camp Nou in the last round, as Barcelona produced the near-perfect performance to resoundingly thrash the Rossoneri 4-0.

Unsurprisingly, Barca have emerged as short 1.11 favourites to get through to the semi-finals, whereas Paris St-Germain are available 5.1.

If Carlo Ancelotti's men are to get through this tie, then they must in all probability register at least twice - as stopping Barcelona scoring at home is something that only Benfica have achieved all season.

The Catalans have averaged 2.25 goals per game at home in the Champions League thus far and only Spartak Moscow in the group stage and Real Madrid and Malaga domestically

have managed to score more than one goal visiting the Camp Nou in 2012/13.

The only real hope for the Parisians can be found in the injuries sustained to Javier Mascherano, who has established himself as a first-choice centre-back and of course their best player Lionel Messi, who was also forced out.

It's pretty certain that Mascherano will miss the second leg but tests to Messi's hamstring strain will soon reveal whether or not he'll make it.

Even if Messi misses out though, Barca have such high-calibre replacements in the likes of Cesc Fabregas that the Argentine's omission shouldn't greatly alter the odds.

Barcelona are available as the 2.9 favourites to take home the trophy in May.