Zlatan Ibrahimovic will not be on the pitch to do what Zlatan does best – score goals – when his current team Paris Saint-Germain take on his former side Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Group F match at the Parc des Princes.
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Ibrahimovic will be sorely missed by PSG when they take on the high-flying Barcelona, who have made a stellar start to their La Liga campaign, winning five of their first six games, including a 6-0 romp over Granada at the weekend.
"The absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic is significant for Paris, but not so much for us as it won't change the way we play," said Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.
Lionel Messi and Neymar have struck up a good early season partnership, and with Luis Suarez still to come from the end of next month, Barcelona do look really good for another Champions League title tilt.
Having started their Champions League campaign with a rather scratchy 1-0 win over APOEL, Barcelona will look for a much better performance against PSG.
The two sides know each other well from a couple of seasons ago, when Barcelona scraped through to the semifinals of the Champions League courtesy a two-legged victory on away goals over the Parisians in the quarterfinals.
The first leg in Paris saw plenty of goals scored – two each to be exact – and with two enterprising, attacking teams lining up, plenty more can be expected come Tuesday.
"We'll need to play very well and show a lot of determination and intent," Enrique added. "The most important match is always the next one, so this Paris game is the most important one right now -- but we'll have just as important ones afterwards."
PSG have made a difficult start to their Ligue 1 season, winning just three of their first eight matches, while drawing the other five. They have already fallen five points behind pace-setters Marseille and manager Laurent Blanc will look for a bright result in the Champions League to help kick-start their season.
"It's no easy task to lead your team back where they belong and get the same great results as last year, but by staying true to our approach we'll make it," Blanc said on Monday. "Tomorrow we'll play against -- I was going to say our 'role models' but that's not the case, although they've been playing in this system for a long time. It's going to be an extraordinary match for players, fans and even journalists.
"Barcelona have always been one of my favourite teams, especially given their football philosophy. Some like it, some don't -- personally I love it."
Blanc, of course, would have loved life a little more had Ibrahimovic, the team's talisman, been available for selection, with the Swedish striker, who left Barcelona in acrimonious circumstances, failing to recover from a heel injury which has left him sidelined for the last few PSG matches.
"Zlatan is still nursing his heel injury, he didn't train this morning," Blanc confirmed on Monday. "That's very unfortunate, but I had prepared with this in mind. It'll be difficult without him -- it always is -- but we'll have to make do and we have some very talented forwards. We'll have to compensate with a great team performance."
Team news: PSG: Apart from Ibrahimovic, another forward in Ezequiel Lavezzi is also ruled out, while key man at the back Thiago Silva is a doubt with a thigh problem.
Barcelona: Enrique does not have too many alarming concerns. Suarez is, of course, still a few weeks away from being eligible to play, while Masip, Rafinha and Douglas are also sidelined.
Expected lineups: PSG: Sirigu; Van der Wiel, David Luiz, Marquinhos, Maxwell; Verratti, Thiago Motta, Matuidi; Pastore, Cavani, Lucas.
Barcelona: Bravo; Alves, Mathieu, Pique, Alba; Iniesta, Busquets, Rakitic; Pedro, Messi, Neymar.
Where to Watch Live
The Champions League Group F match is scheduled for a 7.45 pm BST (12.15 am IST, 2.45 pm ET) start with live coverage on the Ten Network in India.
The match can be watched via live streaming online in India on Ten Sports Live. Viewers in the UK can watch the match on Sky Sports 1 or live stream all the action on Sky Go or Sky Sports Online. US viewers can watch the game live on Fox Soccer or online on FoxSoccer2Go, while Germany viewers can live stream the match Sky Go Germany. Audience in Canada can watch the game via live streaming on Watch Sportsnet. Catch the game in the Middle East and North Africa on Bein Sports and Bein Sports Connect, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can watch the match on SuperSport or Supersport online.
