The UEFA Champions League is about to have one of its most awaited matches, if not the most, of this whole current League Phase in a few hours. At Parc des Princes (9 p.m. CEST), the winners of the last couple of editions, Paris Saint-Germain, will be hosting FC Barcelona, who have won all of their 11 official matches this season and have scored more goals than any other team across Europe's top five leagues so far.
The French side is currently tied on first place in Ligue 1 with another four teams despite having prioritized the Champions League so far: for instance, thinking of this clash against the Culers, they made quite a few rotations last weekend, when they still won at RC Strasbourg (1-3). Among the players who came off the bench we can find Ousmane Démbélé, Vitinha and Achraf Hakimi, being all of them most likely to appear in the starting XI. However, they will not be able to count with Nuno Mendes, who got injured after being subbed on.
As for LaLiga's solo leaders, after a huge 2-5 win at Real Betis, the whole squad had to spend the night in Seville, changing Flick's initial schedule between games. Moreover, both Eric Garcia and Jules Koundé left the pitch with an injury last Saturday, so only Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín, although he had some discomfort and was taken out as well, will be the only first-team available players to play as proper centre-backs.
In contrast, as the German coach said, Raphinha is fit to play from the start, hence we would not be surprised to see the main captain leading the team from the kick-off, despite there is nothing confirmed at this point. Who will play? Is it possible that we end up seeing any emergency centre-back like Rodri? Only coaching staff knows right now, but what we can be sure about is that, with such teams facing each other and giving their best, the show is guaranteed.