PSG vs. Barcelona: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

French champions Paris-Saint Germain will be looking to inject some impetus into their stuttering campaign when they welcome Barcelona to the Parc des Princes for their second Champions League clash of the season.

The Parisians have looked far from their best in the opening weeks of the Ligue 1 campaign and are languishing down in fourth place after eight games. But you suspect if they’re going to emerge victorious in this critical Matchday 2 fixture, then they’re going to have to up their game, as they tackle a Barcelona side that have looked both irrepressible and impenetrable so far.

Indeed, the Blaugrana are a side transformed under the tutelage of Luis Enrique, and the travelling Catalonians will be acutely aware that a positive result here—in what’s undeniably their most difficult group game—would all but secure their passage into the last 16.

Peter Dejong/Associated Press

Here’s all the information you need on where to catch what promises to be an excellent contest on television and via an online stream. Let’s also take a closer look at both teams and how this heavyweight battle is likely to be played out.

Date: Sept. 30, 2014

Time: 7:45 p.m. (BST), 2:45 p.m. (ET) 

Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), Fox Soccer 2Go (US)

TV Info: Sky Sports 1 (UK), Fox Soccer Plus (US)

Zlatan in the spotlight

The primary narrative on the cusp of this game surrounds the fitness of former Barcelona forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The mercurial Swede has never been shy of expressing his boisterous opinion about his ill-fated spell at the Camp Nou, and you suspect he would have been desperate to make an impression against his former employers.

Sergio Camacho/Getty Images

But unfortunately for PSG, their star striker will miss this one, as noted here by Fox Soccer:

David Ramos/Getty Images

PSG have looked a much meaner proposition when the 32-year-old has taken to the field this season, and in the five matches he’s played, he’s scored five goals already, per WhoScored.com. It’s something Barcelona will have been keeping close tabs on too, and Jeremy Mathieu has admitted the French champions are not quite as formidable without their talisman:

While the ability and persona of Zlatan typically hogs much of the spotlight, there are other key factors to this match too. Indeed, even if the former Blaugrana forward was playing, this rock-solid Barcelona back line would probably fancy their prospects of keeping him out anyway.

The Catalonians have gone back to their roots this season in many respects, and Enrique has reintroduced the high-intensity pressing game that made Barcelona such an intimidating opponent under the likes of Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. The former Barca midfielder has packed this team with energy and youthful exuberance; subsequently opponents have found it especially difficult to get at them.

The results have been astounding and Barcelona have yet to concede a goal this season. They're the only side in Europe along with Juventus not to do so, as noted here by the official Barcelona Twitter account:

David Ramos/Getty Images

Going forward they look in pretty good fettle too, and after a frustrating 0-0 draw with Malaga in Week 5, they got back to their free-scoring best in Week 6, running out 6-0 winners against Granada. Neymar was the star of the show in that one, bagging a trio of goals and showcasing a real understanding with the eminently incredible Lionel Messi.

Here’s the Brazilian with the match ball via barcastuff and some of the best bits from that virtuoso display:

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Picture: Neymar with the match ball after his first Liga hat-trick yesterday pic.twitter.com/unSM864vfx [via @fcbarcelona_cat]

— barcastuff (@barcastuff) September 28, 2014"

With PSG struggling for their best form and Zlatan out, it’s difficult to see anything but a Barcelona victory here.

They’ve been wonderful since Enrique stepped into the Camp Nou hot seat and, although their defence will face a big challenge up against the likes of Edinson Cavani, the balance of this team looks just about perfect at the moment.

After two consecutive appearances in the quarter-final of this competition, the onus will be on the French champions to go even further in the Champions League this year. They should have enough to get out of an admittedly tricky group, but at this stage of the season they don’t look quite ready to mix it with the La Liga leaders.

Prediction: PSG 0-2 Barcelona