It could have been better for Barça. Surely yes. But, on paper, also worse. Paris is the next station for the Barcelona team in Europe. The PSG of Luis Enrique, Mbappé and Dembélé appears as a huge challenge in the quarterfinals of the Champions League for Xavi’s team. But Barcelona avoided the current champion, the fearsome Manchester City, Real Madrid, with how exhausting the classics tend to be, and Bayern, its bête noire in Europe. The three of them also go on the other side of the painting.

PSG will not be easy at all for Barcelona fans, especially in the current situation in which everything costs Barça the world, due to the quality and quantity of top-level footballers. In the betting houses, the Barcelona team is only above Atlético and Borussia Dortmund in terms of favoritism.

But the second leg of the quarterfinals will be held in Montjuïc and, if they continue ahead, the Olympic mountain would also be the venue for the second semifinal match. The winner of Atlético-Borussia Dortmund would be the Blaugrana rival, although now that is still saying a lot.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the draw impressive teams will battle it out. Like City and Real Madrid, with the second match in Manchester, and Arsenal and Bayern, with the return match in Munich. If the whites pass, they would play the second semi-final match at the Bernabéu.

Returning to Barça, the tie will have the sentimental component of Luis Enrique’s return as coach. Dembélé will also return, but he does not represent the same as the Asturian, a symbol as a footballer and coach of Barça, with whom he won the treble in 2015, among other titles. He was the last coach to lead Barcelona to the crown in the top continental competition, with Xavi Hernández lifting the trophy as captain in Berlin before leaving for Qatar. He did it after eliminating PSG in the quarterfinals. As for crosses, Barcelona fans and Parisians have met on five occasions. In three of them Barcelona passed the round. Who doesn’t remember, for example, the comeback in the round of 16 in 2017 with that historic 6-1 victory crowned by Sergi Roberto’s goal. Luis Enrique was the Blaugrana coach. On the other hand, in the last precedent, PSG was the one that advanced. Also in the round of 16, against Koeman’s Barça, with a 1-4 in the first leg at the Camp Nou and a 1-1 in the second leg.

“We have the team to stop PSG and to stop Mbappé. We have to be cautious and get, with great concentration, a good result in the first leg to be able to complete the work in Montjuïc. We have options because the team is doing well and we have Xavi, a brave coach who is betting on young people,” said Barça’s sports vice president, Rafael Yuste, from the UEFA headquarters in Nyon.

The calendar is a lifeline for the Barcelona fans, since before the first leg in Paris there is no League (it is the Cup final) and they will have more days to prepare for the match. Meanwhile, PSG does have a Ligue 1 matchday before hosting Barcelona. The first leg will be played on April 10 and the return leg on April 16. Before playing against Luis Enrique’s men in Montjuïc, Barça will travel to Cádiz. After the return he will travel to the Bernabéu.

To face the Parisians, the Barcelona team hopes to have De Jong recovered, to have more troops in its decimated midfield, a line that would not be PSG’s strongest.

On the other hand, the one who does not have too many weak points is City. Guardiola’s team and Madrid will reissue the confrontations of the last two seasons. Last season, City, before becoming champion, eliminated the whites with a resounding 4-0 at the Etihad. He thus took revenge for what had happened the previous year when Madrid, in full comeback fever, let him down. On both occasions it was a semi-final crossing. Like Barça, Madrid does not have a League before the first leg (April 9) and before the return leg (April 17) it travels to Mallorca. City does have two Premier games (Crystal Palace and Luton Town). The tie appears very close.

“The rival is the one that everyone considers a favorite, it may be the best team in Europe. It is a difficult tie, but here we have the confidence to do well. Optimism prevails, not worry. We don’t care about the return in Manchester,” says Ancelotti.

The cross between Atlético, emboldened by having eliminated a bone like Inter, and Borussia Dortmund also seems balanced. These are teams with two hot stadiums, one of the most in Europe. In this sense, the Germans have the advantage that the quarterfinals will be decided in Germany. “Dortmund is very complicated. They generate a great atmosphere in their stadium, but so do we in ours,” said Carlos Bucero, general director of football at Atlético.

In the final at Wembley (June 1) Barcelona would be the home team. But there is still a world left for that.