‘We can hurt them’ – Vitor Roque, Raphinha, and Fermin react to PSG draw

Barcelona have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final and speaking about the fixture, the likes of Vitor Roque, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez seemed quite optimistic.

Barcelona and PSG share a great history in the UEFA Champions League, having played a total of 12 matches between 1994 and 2021. During these outings, both Barcelona and PSG have won four matches each while the remaining 4 have been drawn.

Roque, Raphinha react to draw

Speaking about this year’s fixture, Roque said that while it is going to be a difficult match, Barcelona will enter the round as favourites too.

“It’s going to be a tough match. There will always be difficult matches, but whoever wishes to be crowned champions cannot choose the teams they want. We need to work hard, play well and qualify,” he told ESPN Brazil.

Meanwhile, Raphinha spoke about the draw too and the former Leeds United winger said that not just PSG but all the eight teams in the quarter-final round are favourites to win the coveted title.

“There are eight teams who are all favourites. The truth is we knew any draw would be complicated and PSG is no exception. But we also know what we can offer and what we can do to win,” said the Brazil winger.

Raphinha is optimistic about the PSG match. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Fermin on the prospect of facing PSG

On the other hand, midfielder Fermin Lopez put a great emphasis on former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique, who now manages PSG, saying that he was not only a great player but also an amazing coach.

“Although Luis Enrique was a great player and a great coach, we would be just as motivated whoever the opposing coach is,” he told the club media.

“All the games we have played so far in this competition have been highly competitive, and whatever team we were going to get from here onwards was going to be against a great side.”

The young midfielder admitted that the quarter-final tie will be a difficult match mostly because of players like Kylian Mbappe and Ousmane Dembele, but Barcelona can still win the contest.

“It will be a difficult game,” he said. “PSG are a great side, but we’ll do everything can to get the win.”

“They have very dangerous players up front like Mbappe and Dembele. If we can control that and play our own game, we can hurt them. The team is on fine form right now.” he added.