PSG, broad winner of their knockout round of the Champions League in Barcelona (4-1), is in a very good position to qualify on Wednesday night for the return match.

But Barça wants to believe in the feat, four years after the famous "remount".

Can history repeat itself for PSG and FC Barcelona?

Four years after the famous "remountada" (4-0 on the first leg for Paris, 6-1 on the return for the Spaniards), Barça is facing an even greater challenge.

Humiliated in the round of 16 first leg on their home turf (4-1), the Catalan club must achieve a colossal feat to qualify on Wednesday night in the return match at the Parc des Princes.

But the forces involved and the context have almost nothing to do with the meeting in 2017. Even within Barça, players and supporters seem to believe only moderately in a new "remount". 

>> The PSG-Barça match can be followed live and in full on Europe 1 from 8 p.m. to 11.30 p.m. and on Europe1.fr (kick off at 9 p.m.) 

"It's going to be very complicated", recognize the people of Barcelona 

In the first leg, Barça was clearly dominated at Camp Nou, suffering the fury of an unleashed Kylian Mbappé, author of a hat-trick.

Since this affront, the Blaugranas have yet returned to the front, with a draw and then four wins.

Above all, they managed a mini "comeback" in the Spanish Cup against Sevilla FC, with a 3-0 success in the return semifinals (after extra time), after a 2-0 defeat in the first leg.

Despite this feat, hope remains timid before the round of 16 return to Parc des Princes. 

"A 2-0 is not easy to come up, but it's still easier to go up. A 4-1 is something else ... We will see if there is an opportunity to pass during the match. Otherwise, it will have to be accepted, "replied Ronald Koeman, Dutch Barça coach.

"It's going to be very complicated ... But hey, we'll have a good game and try to compete", timidly hoped the side Jordi Alba.

The new president, Joan Laporta, believes in it 

The atmosphere before the return match is light years away from that of 2017, when the Catalan dailies and the whole club believed in their lucky stars, with thunderous statements and calls for the mobilization of supporters.

Except that this year, the return match will not take place at Camp Nou but at the Parc des Princes, which is moreover behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.

And despite good results in La Liga for several weeks, Barça is no longer the European ogre of yesteryear. 

In 2017, the Blaugranas had been able to count on their MSN, the Messi-Neymar-Suarez trio, to achieve the unthinkable.

Four years later, only Messi is still at the club and Barça remains on a long series of European disappointments: 3-0 against AS Rome in the return quarterback three years ago, 4-0 at Liverpool in the semi-finals return two years ago and especially an 8-2 disillusion against Bayern in the quarter-final of the last edition in Lisbon. 

Finally, the only one to really believe it is the new president Joan Laporta, elected Sunday by the socios (he had already been president between 2003 and 2010, at the time of the great Barça of Pep Guardiola,

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"We are going to Paris for a comeback," he said to galvanize the supporters.

Not sure his appeal will be heard this time around.