Football
Ian Holyman, France correspondent 10y

Paris Saint-Germain need to get past Barcelona, says Nasser Al Khelaifi

Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al Khelaifi set his team the goal of beating Barcelona after being drawn in the Champions League group stage with the Catalan giants.

Ajax and APOEL Nicosia make up Group F, but it is likely that the encounters between PSG and Barca will decide who finishes atop the section with the other team favourites to claim runners-up spot and a round of 16 berth.

PSG were defeated at the quarterfinal stage of the 2012-13 competition by Barca, and Al Khelaifi, 40, told BeIN SPORTS he will be seeking revenge.

"I don't think it's easy. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is going to meet his old teams, Ajax and Barca, whom we played two years ago. This year, I hope we have a better team to try and win against Barca. I'm very proud of PSG, it makes me happy when I feel the respect of other clubs."

Last season, PSG breezed through the group stage, seeing off Olympiakos, Benfica and Anderlecht with a minimum of fuss before once again advancing to the last eight where they only narrowly succumbed to Chelsea.

Former Lyon midfielder and Brazil international Juninho Pernambucano warned the French champions the route to the round of 16 has more pitfalls on it this season and told them to guard against complacency.

"It won't be as easy as people think for Paris," he told RMC. "They'll have to contest top spot with Barca. To go through, Paris will have to play well at home and scrape together points away. Nothing can be taken for granted.

"Everything will also depend on the fixture list. It would be difficult to need to go to Ajax and win in the last game. Of course PSG are better, but it's a more difficult group than last year."

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