LONDON: This week the glamour of a tie between Barcelona and Paris St Germain heralds the dawn of the Champions League knockout phase, but the world’s most lucrative and compelling club competition returns still overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis.

Four years ago, when PSG last visited the Camp Nou, they arrived with a 4-0 first-leg advantage and left eliminated after a 6-1 defeat on a night the 96,000 spectators present will never forget.

On Tuesday Neymar, now with the Parisians, will miss the return to his old home due to injury. The fans will be missing too, yet the spectacle of a huge European game going ahead behind closed doors due to Covid-19 restrictions is no longer so unusual.

What is new is the extent to which travel bans are creating havoc as three matches in the first knock-out round had to be moved to neutral venues.

The first of those is also on Tuesday when RB Leipzig host 2019 winners Liverpool in Budapest due to a ban by German authorities on travellers from the UK.

Wednesday has Porto v Juventus and Sevilla v Borussia Dortmund while reigning champions Bayern Munich have another week off before meeting Lazio.

Barca will have Lionel Messi in his best form this season as the team resumes their campaign in Europe’s top club competition.

The Argentine great has scored nine goals in his last nine matches in all competitions, including a brace in the 5-1 rout of Alaves on Saturday. It remains unclear if coach Ronald Koeman will have Gerard Pique or Ronald Araujo back from injuries to boost the team’s defence.

PSG also have injury concerns. Both Neymar and Angel Di Maria are out, putting pressure on Kylian Mbappe to carry the attack.

Mbappe scored twice in the 5-1 win against Istanbul Basaksehir back in December when the Turkish side had nothing but pride to play for but more telling is that Mbappe had not scored in the nine previous Champions League games dating back to November 2019.

Without his two main creators, Mbappe will be heavily reliant on Marco Verratti pushing up as a makeshift playmaker. That makes Barca’s task straightforward in shutting him down. That’s if Verratti even starts, because he is nursing a bruised hip.

With their Premier League title defence in shreds, Liverpool have only one opportunity to win silverware this season: in the Champions League.

Manager Juergen Klopp will have to fix his team’s creaking defence if that is to happen. Liverpool head into the knockout stage with their three senior centre-backs Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all out long term and one of the emergency replacements, midfielder Fabinho, also out.

It leaves Klopp likely having to rely on midfielder Jordan Henderson and an inexperienced January signing from Schalke 04, Ozan Kabak, to hold the fort in front of goalkeeper Alisson Becker, who has made errors leading to goals in his last two Premier League games.

Fears of coronavirus mutations have led to the game being held in Budapest rather than Leipzig but the game will go on giving youthful Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann a chance to test himself against compatriot Klopp as he seeks to match last season’s run to the last four.

“We know that we need a top performance against Liverpool,” Nagelsmann said. “We want to give our all in our ‘home tie’ in Budapest and put ourselves in a good position for the second leg.”

Porto welcome Juventus for a clash between current national champions and two-time continental winners. Cristiano Ronaldo returns to his home country while Juve’s Brazilian defenders Alex Sandro and Danilo tackle their former club.

“This defeat will not dispirit us. Let’s hold our head up and think about the Champions League,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram after a 1-0 loss at Napoli on Saturday held the Bianconeri eight points off the Serie A top.

Juve beat Porto home and away without conceding a goal the last time the two sides met, at the same stage four years ago.

Porto’s recent poor results have left the club seven points behind Portuguese league leaders Sporting Lisbon. Porto haven’t played in the knockout stage of the Champions League since losing to eventual champions Liverpool in the 2018-19 quarter-finals.

Dortmund are increasingly looking to the Champions League after a Bundesliga season that has not being going to plan. The Germans have just one win from their last six games.

Edin Terzi’s side were fortunate to get away with a 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim on Saturday, and Sevilla will present a formidable challenge after winning their last nine games across all competitions. Dortmund have collected only 14 points from a possible 30 in the Bundesliga since the 38-year-old Terzi took over from the fired Lucien Favre.

Sevilla are without winger Lucas Ocampos who has an ankle injury and left back Marcos Acuna is also expected to miss the game although coach Julen Lopetegui hopes right back Jesus Navas will be fit.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2021