Picking a Combined PSG-Barcelona Side Based on Form This Year
Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain meet for the third time in this Champions League season, with a semi-final place at stake.
Both sides have had similar seasons in that they started slowly and have built up a decent head of steam, and both now hold the momentum going into the last handful of games.
Mind you, it's tight at the top with PSG just a point ahead of Lyon in Ligue 1 and Barca two ahead of rivals Real Madrid in La Liga, and both run-ins will surely make for an interesting end to the season.
Let's take a look at who would make a combined side, based on their form during this campaign...
Claudio Bravo
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Claudio Bravo has enjoyed a simply stunning debut season for Barcelona.
With just a handful of games left in La Liga, it would be a shock if the Chilean captain did not pick up the Zamora award for fewest amount of goals conceded. He'd be a worthy winner, too.
It's worth recalling that when his signing was rumoured, and at the eventual €12 million asking price, eyebrows were considerably raised, with age being just one of many concerns.
Was Bravo really the 'keeper Barca needed to take over from Victor Valdes?
He's answered that question emphatically.
Dani Alves
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Dani Alves wouldn't appear to know if he is coming or going at this juncture.
Rumour after rumour keeps on circulating as to where the Brazilian will be plying his trade from next season, with latest news suggesting he could even stay at Barcelona despite turning down their "final" offer.
Zarif Rasul of Sky Sports is one of many to be reporting on the latest twist in the saga.
Barca would certainly miss his raiding down the right flank, even if his crossing ability has become a little wayward just recently.
He's certainly far more preferable to both Martin Montoya and Douglas in the role, and he gets the nod ahead of the fearsome Serge Aurier here by virtue of the fact that he has played much more regularly.
Jordi Alba
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Former Barca favourite Maxwell has fared well since his transfer to PSG, holding down the left-back slot for two-thirds of the season thus far.
His game is steady rather than spectacular, and while there is nothing wrong with that at all, he doesn't provide enough to knock Jordi Alba from a left-back berth in this team.
Offensively Alba is by far the better player, getting forward at every given opportunity, and his speed and "engine" sees him offering the same service from first minute to last.
As with Alves on the opposite side, the defensive side of his game could do with some work from time to time, as Lucas Moura showed in the first meeting between the sides when he comprehensively outclassed Alba.
Thiago Silva
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Is there a better central defender in Europe than Thiago Silva?
Time and again the Brazilian comes up with the goods, and it was his towering header that took the French side into the quarter-finals at the expense of Chelsea.
A real leader of men, when you watch Silva, it's blindingly obvious why Tito Vilanova wanted to sign him for the Catalans back in 2012.
Seeing how far the defender has progressed even since that point, perhaps in hindsight Barca should have broken the bank to sign him.
Truly outstanding.
Gerard Pique
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Rivalling Silva at the present time has to be Barca's Gerard Pique.
Man-of-the-match performances against Real Madrid and Celta Vigo have merely highlighted just how well Pique has been playing for the majority of the season.
Literally and metaphorically head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch at times, Pique has found the maturity that many thought was beyond him.
The responsibility suits him well, and there isn't even a question as to who can replace him in the Barca side, but moreover who will partner him?
An immovable object and approaching somewhere near the best form of his career from three to four years ago.
Sergio Busquets
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Javier Mascherano should feel a little hard done in not making this side either defensively or in midfield; however, Sergio Busquets remains peerless in the holding role.
Doing the simple things well is anything but simple as those in the game will tell you. Doing the simple things well is what Sergio Busquets does best.
Not so long ago Sid Lowe in his column for the Guardian noted that Xavi Hernandez calls him the "snowplough" because of the way he just clears everything up.
Meant as a term of endearment, it's easy to understand why players value the input of Busquets.
Gerard Pique also said of his colleague:
"Tactically, he’s incredible. English football’s more about intensity, physicality; here it’s more tactical.
The pivot is more about being tactically astute than physically dominant: thinking, calculating, offering solutions, defensively and offensively. Control everything.
Positioning is key. Barcelona’s style means that defensively you deal mainly with counter-attacks – not stopping them, preventing them.
If you defend high, it’s a long way back towards your own goal, so you need to prevent those breaks.
"
Even in this transitional Luis Enrique-led Blaugrana, Busquets still controls everything.
A coach's dream.
Ivan Rakitic
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Ivan Rakitic edges out the more robust Blaise Matuidi in the left-hand side of midfield.
The Croatian has shown glimpses of his best form but has still to settle in fully.
Yet his stats make for interesting reading when compared to Matuidi who, it's fair to say, has everyone excited with his mixture of power, pace and physical presence.
According to Squawka, Rakitic has completed 1344 passes with a 90 percent accuracy compared to Matuidi's 1074 and 92 percent accuracy.
Where Rakitic really comes into his own, however, is his creation of 29 chances, six assists and four goals. Matuidi can't really compete with that with just 17 chances, one assist and two goals.
Rakitic's languid style is an easy fit for Barca's style of play, although Matuidi's raw aggression is a sight to behold.
Both players are having great campaigns, but it's Rakitic who gets the nod by virtue of his greater industry over the course of the season.
Marco Verratti
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Snapping away at your heels, 22-year-old Marco Verratti is fast carving out a reputation for himself as one of the premier midfielders in Ligue 1.
Operating ostensibly down the right channels and from a slightly deeper standpoint than Rakitic on the left, Verratti is earning his stripes with his vision, execution and accuracy.
The Italian's 91.2 percent pass completion success, per WhoScored, puts him in the top echelons of the side, and whether long or short passes, there is no loss of excellence in the delivery.
A feisty competitor, Verratti will be in your face all game and won't give opponents a moment's peace.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
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Per Squawka, he has 17 goals and three assists.
Yes, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still in fine fettle despite injury troubles that kept him out of action for seven weeks earlier in the season and which continue to trouble him.
Still as cantankerous on the football pitch as ever, and as outspoken off it, the Swede is the one they all come to watch. And he never lets you down.
A shame for Barca that his transfer there never really worked out because Zlatan remains one of the best strikers in the business, and his goals should fire PSG all the way to another league title.
Missing for the first leg of this contest, can he inspire his side to victory in the second leg and an unprecedented semi-final appearance?
Lionel Messi
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Lionel Messi continues to set the standard in Spain and in Europe.
Forget the perennial battle with Cristiano Ronaldo to be the best and just concentrate on exactly what it is that the Argentine brings into battle.
Goals and assists galore, eye-of-the-needle passes that are so good not even his team-mates are on the same wavelength, defensive duties when required and more...
Messi has absolutely everything in his locker, and wherever he is placed on the pitch, he is no less dangerous.
His goal against PSG in Paris was a work of art. Rejoice in seeing it again here.
Neymar
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Although he's slightly off the pace at present, goal against Sevilla aside, Neymar has enjoyed a stellar second season at Barcelona.
Even the addition of Luis Suarez hasn't seen a drop-off in the Brazilian captain's application, effort and team ethic.
That is perhaps the biggest bonus for Luis Enrique in that the individual skill that Neymar possesses in droves has been harnessed correctly and is only used when absolutely necessary. No show pony anymore this.
Neither Messi and Suarez suffers fools gladly, and it's noticeable that their working relationship with Neymar is completely natural and not forced. Neymar must take the credit for that.
His 21 goals scored in all competitions, per Squawka, is a fine return, not to mention his assists and general play, which is a marked improvement on last term.
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