Paris, France

Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has picked Paris Saint-Germain as favourites to win the Champions League quarterfinal tie despite his team beating them 3-2 on Wednesday (April 10) evening. Barcelona, the five-time champions snatched a dramatic win against PSG at the Parc des Princess with Pedri getting an assist on his return. There were goals from Raphinha and Andreas Christensen to help Barcelona come from behind to win the first leg.

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Xavi terms PSG as favourites

"PSG are still the favourites," Xavi said in his postgame news conference. "It will be very difficult to win in Barcelona.

"Today we played well because we were united defensively. I'm very proud, everything worked well. We have to improve our concentration in the first minutes of the second half. We managed to mature and recover from a match that became very difficult,' he further said.

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Barcelona are still fighting on two fronts in the 2023-24 season and sit eight points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid. On the flip side, they have a better chance of progressing to the Champions League final as they won’t face the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City at least till the final of the competition.

"I hope the ghosts have died," Xavi added. "We've gone through difficult years in the Champions League recently. This win shows that Barça are still alive,” Xavi added.

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Can Barcelona reach the UCL semis?

Despite, Xavi’s claims of PSG being favourites to win the Champions League quarterfinal tie, his side will be eager to reach their firsts semifinal since the 2018-19 season. The Catalonian side last won the Champions League in 2015 during the Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez days. In case they progress to the next round of the competition, they will face either Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund.

Considering Atletico were beaten 3-0 earlier in the season at their home ground, Barcelona would be sensing their chances to reach the final.

The Champions League quarterfinal second leg will be played on Tuesday (April 16) at Camp Nou, with home advantage for the five-time champions.