Barca hope young blood can overcome old ghosts in Europe

Barcelona’s Spanish midfielder #20 Sergi Roberto (R) heads the ball ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s South Korean midfielder #19 Lee Kang-in (C) during the UEFA Champions League quarter final first leg football match between Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and FC Barcelona at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on April 10, 2024. (Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP)

Barcelona host Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday hoping their young stars can help them vanquish the ghosts of the past and return the five-time winners to the Champions League elite.

The Catalans’ dramatic 3-2 quarter-final first leg victory in Paris is arguably their finest result away from home in the competition in the last decade, sparking big dreams in Catalonia.

“I understand the euphoria — it’s better to live with euphoria than with pessimism,” said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez on Saturday.

Xavi’s side which snatched victory at the Parc des Princes featured the two youngest players ever to play in the final eight of the Champions League, in 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, and Pau Cubarsi, 17.

That fresh blood has brought new life to a team not only struggling this season but which has been weighed down mentally by failure stacked on failure since they last triumphed in Europe in 2015.

The Catalans lifted the trophy in Berlin with current PSG coach Luis Enrique at the helm, propelled by the magical strike force of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

The years since have been a collection of dramatic collapses on the biggest stages on the continent and, worse still, ignominious defeats in earlier rounds.

Yamal and Cubarsi are untainted by the psychological damage of those defeats and Xavi has praised their mentality.

“(Yamal) is very calm and very mature, so measured in