PARIS — Diminished by injuries and suspensions, Paris Saint-Germain renews hostilities with Barcelona Wednesday as the sides clash at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal. PSG has been eliminated in the last eight on away goals in each of the last two seasons, including losing to Barcelona in 2013. As it looks to finally make it back to the semifinals of Europe's elite club competition for the first time in 20 years, the side from the French capital could hardly be in better form. A point clear at the top of Ligue 1, it is on course to win an unprecedented clean sweep of the domestic honors after mercilessly crushing Bastia 4-0 in the final of the League Cup at the weekend. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in that game, having netted a hat trick in last midweek's 4-1 French Cup semifinal defeat of Saint-Etienne to reach a century of goals for the club. The Swede has scored 13 times in his last seven matches for club and country, but he will miss the meeting with one of his former clubs due to suspension after being sent off in the second leg of the last-16 win over Chelsea last month. Ibrahimovic is also about to begin a four-game domestic ban, so PSG must get used to being without its talisman, who has 28 goals in total this season. Blanc must also do without Marco Verratti due to suspension, while David Luiz and Thiago Motta have hamstring injuries, although the return to fitness of the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Lucas does provide some consolation. In contrast to its host, Barcelona comes into its eighth consecutive quarterfinal in the competition with only one notable player missing in the shape of right-back Dani Alves, who is suspended. Bayern counts injuries Bayern Munich may also be missing some of its biggest names when it travels to Porto for the first leg of its Champions League last eight Wednesday but the Germans are confident they have enough firepower to defend their favorite tag. Chasing a second treble after 2013, Bayern will be without Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Bastian Schweinsteiger among others but they know their season will not be a success if they do not advance in the Champions League. Bayern left a day earlier than usual, arriving in the Portuguese city Monday for Wednesday's game as coach Pep Guardiola shifts the focus away from injuries to its dominant domestic season. Porto beat it in a memorable European Cup final in 1987 — its only win in five matches against Bayern. But the only thing on the Germans' mind is taking an advantage back to Munich for the return leg and then qualify as it did on two previous occasions against Porto in the quarterfinals. Porto coach Julen Lopetegui, a former teammate of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Spain, said his team was hitting top form at just the right time and his players were dreaming of an upset. — Agencies
