At 3 o'clock in the morning, Barcelona's Champions League life and death match: 12.5 million euros, box office 6 million!
At 3 o'clock in the morning on April 17, Beijing time, in the second leg of the Champions League 1/4 finals, Barcelona sat at home to face Paris Saint-Germain. In the first leg, Barcelona won 3-2. Back at the Stadio Olimpico de Montjuïc, Barcelona are looking to advance to the last four, which will bring them a good income.
In the first leg at the Parc des Princes, Barcelona played a wonderful football and Xavi's two substitutions also paid wonders:
Pedri was brought on to assist Raphinha one minute later, and Andreas Christensen was replaced to head home one minute later. Historically, Barcelona won the first leg of the Champions League away with a 100% chance of progressing, 11 experiences and 11 successes, while Paris lost the first leg of the European competition with a 0% chance of qualifying, 6 attempts and 6 failures.
Back at home, Barcelona needs the whole team to fight and the fans to cheer them on. "World Sports" pointed out that Barcelona President Laporta and coach Xavi called on the 50,000 fans at the scene to create an atmosphere of "devil's home" and turn Montjuïc into Camp Nou.
The last time Barcelona reached the last four of the Champions League was in 2018-19, five years ago. A giant like Barcelona has been away from the top 4 of the Champions League for 5 years, which is an unsatisfactory result. Barcelona fans are eager for the team to qualify, with Le Monde Sport revealing that the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium sold out, with more than 50,000 tickets and 6 million euros in revenue.
This Champions League 1/4 final not only means honor for Barcelona, but also real income:
Reaching the last four of the Champions League will receive €12.5 million in prize money from UEFA and one more home ticket revenue (€6 million at the Champions League level) for the Champions League semi-finals. If Barcelona advances, they will have 18.5 million euros in revenue (bonus + tickets). Barcelona, which is in financial difficulties, needs a "timely rain".
"World Sports News" said that in this Champions League life and death match, Xavi is still the main attack, and he is by no means conservative. Barcelona's starting 11 without any suspense:
Ter Stegen was in goal, Kounde, Araujo, Cubasi, and Cancelo were in the defence, Gundogan, De Jong, and Pedri partnered in midfield, and Yamal, Lewandowski and Raphinha joined the attack. Compared to the first leg, Pedri, who returned from injury, came into the starting line-up and rotated Sergi Roberto (suspended), and Barca's strength on paper continued unabated.
For Paris Saint-Germain, Achraf returned from suspension, and coach Enrique was able to put out a complete defence. Mbappe is still the trump card that Paris relies on the most. In the 1/8 finals of the Champions League 3 years ago, Mbappe scored 4 goals against Barcelona in two legs. In this Champions League match, Mbappe's performance is crucial.