BY MONICA IHEAKAM
Ligue1 winners , Paris St Germain, will today take on five -time European Champions, Barcelona in an eagerly anticipated last -16 round of the Champions League tie at the Parc des Princes.
PSG, coached by Unai Emery, have reached the last eight for the past four seasons and are aiming to establish themselves among the elite of the European game.
The two sides last met in the Champions League at the quarter-final stage in 2013 and 2015, with Barcelona dominating. The Spanish side won the first leg in Paris 3-1 thanks to a brace from Luiz Suarez and an opener from Neymar.
It was the Brazilian who completed the job by getting both goals in the return leg at the Nou Camp as Barca advanced 5-1 on aggregate.
Both sides are in excellent form, PSG having not lost since mid-December and Barcelona undefeated in 11 games.
Barcelona have advanced from every knock-out meeting between the sides except the first, which Paris St Germain won 3-2 on aggregate back in 1995.
Meanwhile, adidas on Monday unveiled the new match ball that will be used throughout the rest of the competition.
Celebrating Wales, who host this year’s final at the Principality Stadium, the ball’s unique design features a striking dragon print.
It is inspired by the national emblem, in which the dragon predominantly covers the country’s flag.
The adidas team, who travelled to Cardiff for part of the design process, received inspiration from the power and strength that the dragon represents in Celtic mythology.
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