Football NewsMauricio Pochettino wants another big win against Barcelona
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Mauricio Pochettino pledged that Paris Saint-Germain will fight to the death to win the Champions League.

 

PSG will strive

 

PSG will be looking to book themselves a spot in the quarterfinals of Europe’s elite competition when they host five-time winners Barcelona in their round of 16 kick-off in the middle of the week. The French champions made it to the showpoint last season just to suffer a narrow defeat at Bayern Munich, and Pochettino is determined to help the team move one step further in May.

Pochettino said during a pre-match interview with the LFP: “It is clear that the goal of the club is to win. There are many other teams that want to win it, it is not so easy. We are aware of our responsibility and will fight to the death to achieve it.”

PSG played a tricky draw in the 2020-21 Champions League group stage with Manchester United, RB Leipzig and Istanbul’s Basaksehir. The French champions only grabbed three points from their first three fixtures, losing at home to United and away to Leipzig on both sides of a 2-0 win against Basaksehir, but recovered to finish at the top of the group H. PSG beat Leipzig 1-0 at home before earning an impressive 3-1 win over the Red Devils at Old Trafford and a 5-1 rumble by Basksehir, with their heavyweight stage meeting against Barça being rewarded for efforts.

PSG’s impressive performance at Nou Camp

 

Pochettino’s side then hammered home their European aspirations by dismantling the Blaugrana 4-1 at the Camp Nou in the first leg of their last 16 tie, and are expected to finish work at Prince’s Park on Wednesday night. Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc and Unai Emery all failed to take PSG beyond the Champions League quarter-finals, but Thomas Tuchel managed to beat that trend in 2019-20. The German head coach found a way to pull the best of key players like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria, as they swept everyone into the final but were defeated by Bayern Munich.