Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG Represent Acid Test for Barcelona Defence

We love football because it's so unpredictable, and there's no more unpredictable player than Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede and 10 others will be out to prove that Barcelona's defence is still a mess. 

Describing PSG as Zlatan and 10 others might be perceived as disrespectful to players like Edinson Cavani, Marco Verratti and Lucas Moura, but it's just a comment on how influential Ibrahimovic is, when he plays.

Of course, PSG didn't need Zlatan to see off Barcelona at the Parc des Princes earlier this season.

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They inflicted the first defeat of the campaign on Luis Enrique's men, with David Luiz, Verratti and Blaise Matuidi netting for Laurent Blanc's side in a 3-2 win.

Barcelona's defence was shoddy on that day, with Javier Mascherano at fault for the first goal and Marc Andre-ter Stegen for the second.

After that game, Barcelona had a steep dip and are now rising again, with momentum from a string of seven consecutive victories.

They have kept four clean sheets in those games, shutting out Ajax and Apoel in the Champions League, Valencia in La Liga and Huesca in the Copa del Rey.

But the frailties that afflict their defensive results have been present throughout, most recently cropping up against Espanyol in the Catalan derby.

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There was Sergio Busquets in midfield, crying out for a foul when he tussled with Felipe Caicedo. If there was an infringement, it was marginal at best.

Then, with Sergio Garcia running towards goal, Pique backed off and backed off. Garcia approached the box and Pique, perhaps scared that the forward's pace and balance would undo him, continued to retreat.

With Caicedo making a run to the left to occupy Mascherano, Pique had to step forward and challenge the forward, but he didn't. Instead, the Espanyol hitman fired low, past Claudio Bravo, into the bottom right-hand corner.

If Lionel Messi hadn't been his usual, unbelievable self, we would be analysing Barcelona's defending and discussing the consequences of a possibly defeat or draw on the title race, instead of marvelling over the little Argentine. 

Until Barcelona sort out their defence and midfield balance, Messi will have a few more rescue missions to perform.

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Neymar and Luis Suarez are more than adequate support on that front, with the three forwards each individually capable of digging Barcelona out of a ditch on any given day, but that's not something you want to build your game plan around.

Ibrahimovic, recently back from injury, single-handedly won PSG their Ligue 1 clash against Nantes on Saturday.

One goal down after Alejandro Bedoya opened the scoring, Ibrahimovic popped up with two quite brilliant strikes to earn his side the three points.

It was Ibrahimovic who scored the only goal the weekend before too, netting against Nice to secure PSG a 1-0 win.

He has 11 goals in 12 games for PSG this season in Ligue 1, the Champions League and the French Champions' Trophy. Injury has prevented that total from being greater. Now he is aiming to sink his former side to secure PSG top spot in their Champions League group.

Remy de la Mauviniere/Associated Press

Just a draw would do it for the French outfit, while Barcelona need to win to ensure they go through as group winners, in theory then securing an easier tie in the next phase of the competition.

That means Barcelona will have to be progressive and proactive in their search for victory, giving Ibrahimovic more time and space to work his magic against their defence.

Like at the start of the season, when Barcelona put together a string of victories, there is an underlying feeling that the recent results aren't backed up by much substance underneath.

Ibrahimovic and PSG will be able to prove if that's the case or not on Wednesday night at the Camp Nou.