Overview
For many neutral sides, it is a pity that Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain did not face each other in the UEFA Champions League final last season.
Barca and PSG have scored 43 and 38 goals in the league, at least 7 more than the teams that scored many goals in the following years - Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Dortmund - each team scored only 31 goals.
However, the Blaugrana's 6-1 defeat to Inter in the semi-finals prevented Luis Enrique from meeting his former team in the final. Instead, PSG had an impressive 5-0 victory over the Nerazzurri.
This season, everyone will witness the clash between the two European giants in the group stage, even though the match may be without many stars.
Barcelona will be without Raphinha, goalkeeper Joan Garcia and midfielder Gavi - who will be out for up to five months after undergoing knee surgery.
PSG captain Marquinhos is unlikely to return before the international break in October due to thigh problems, while Desire Doue and Joao Neves are also on the injured list of the French team.
Vitinha and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia both had to leave the field early in the 2-0 win over Auxerre in Ligue 1, and their ability to play is still uncertain. However, PSG's most notable absence could be Ousmane Dembele - who just won the Ballon d'Or.
Dembele has been directly involved in 40 goals in all competitions in 2025 (29 goals, 11 assists). Only Harry Kane (44) and Kylian Mbappe (42) have better results among the players from the top 5 European leagues.
Without Dembele, the stage could open up for Lamine Yamal - the player he surpassed in the Ballon d'Or vote. Barcelona have won four consecutive games in all competitions without Yamal, before he returned in the 58th minute in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad in La Liga.
Yamal did not take much time to make the difference. Just 62 seconds after entering the field, he rushed straight to the crossbar and passed the ball with his right foot to Robert Lewandowski to score the decisive goal.
Since the start of last season, Mohamed Salah (26 assists) has been the only player from Europe's top five leagues to have more assists than Yamal (24 assists in all competitions, equal to Raphinha).
In his last 18 appearances for Barcelona and the Spanish national team, Yamal has been directly involved in 18 goals, including 8 goals and 10 assists.
Meanwhile, PSG opened their title defence with a 4-0 win over Atalanta, marking a run of four consecutive Champions League wins with a total score of 12-1.
Only one team has won three consecutive Champions League games by four goals or more. And that is PSG, from October to November 2017.
The injuries that destroyed Luis Enrique's attack made it difficult for his team to repeat that miracle, despite PSG still possessing formidable strength on the pitch.
Head-to-head record
The upcoming match will be the 16th meeting between Barcelona and PSG in major tournaments in Europe.
Barcelona have won 6, PSG have won five, and 4 have ended in draws.
Since winning three consecutive Champions League games against PSG, Barcelona have won just two of their last six against the French side in the competition (D1 L3).
In fact, PSG have won both of their last two away games against Barca, both with a score of 4-1 in the Champions League in February 2021 and April 2024.
Luis Enrique will face his former team for the fifth time in his coaching career, and the third time since leaving the Catalan giants.
Score prediction: Barcelona 2-2 PSG
The match between Barcelona and PSG takes place at 2:00 am on October 2 (Vietnam time).
