Lee Kang-in 23 meets an opponent who has never won. He is expected to start against Barcelona.

PSG will play its first quarterfinal match of the 2023-2024 UEFA Champions League UCL against Barcelona at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, at 4 a.m. on Tuesday. The match will mark the first time in three years that the team has met in the last 16 of the 2020-2021 season.

The biggest concern is whether Lee Kang-in, who has recently moved from PSG to starting and replacing, will start. In the match against Clermont just before, he played in the 22nd minute of the second half, not as a starter, and played a total of 23 minutes. Regarding this, it was criticized that it was a rotation for coach Luis Enrique to put Lee Kang-in as a starter for this UCL game.

Key players such as center back Marquignos, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and midfielder Fabian Lewis were excluded from the starting lineup. Spain's Mundo Deportivo said, "The match against Clermont was an advantageous schedule for PSG's key players to take a break. PSG will face Barcelona, a big enemy."

In France, it seems that Lee Kang-in is expected to be selected. On the 7th, France's "Le Parisien" predicted that Lee Kang-in, Kylian Mbappe and Usman Dembele would form a front-line three-top in the 4-3-3 formation, while Fabian Lewis, Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emeri would play in the midfield. Four-back predicted that Nunu Mendes, Lucas Veraldu, Luca Hernandez, Marquignos, and Gianluigi Donnarumma would play for the goalkeeper.

The media said, "Three completely different types of players, Lee Kang-in, Gonzalo Hamus, and Langdang Colo-Muani, are competing for the starting position. It is difficult to predict who will take the position, but Enrique will prefer Lee Kang-in." France's "L'Equipe" also predicted the same formation as "Le Parisien" on the 8th, and Lee Kang-in's selection.

However, UEFA expected Lee Kang-in to start the bench. Newcomer Bradley Barcola is expected to start in lieu of Lee. However, as Barcola recently returned to the team from a hamstring injury, chances are not high that Enrique will force him to play.

PSG has been on an unbeaten run since the match against AC Milan in November last year. It is targeting the long-cherished UCL title. Ahead of the match against Barcelona, Enrique is fully prepared, including stockpiling physical strength of key players. Ahead of the match, Enrique expressed his commitment, saying, "I knew we would meet a quality team at this year's event. We have to prove that we have improved." "We are in a very good mood. We are not under any pressure and the players are passionate. We will definitely win against Barcelona."

While playing for Valencia FC 2019-2021 and Real Mallorca FC in La Liga, Lee met with Barcelona five times. However, he has yet to win with one draw and four losses. He is committed to securing his first win at the match against Barcelona at the UCL. Enrique is expected to make full use of Lee, who knows the La Liga team well.

Lee Kang-in seemed to be shaken after his return to the Asian Cup, but he has been steadily receiving favorable reviews in recent games. On the 18th of last month, he scored a fantastic shot goal in the 26th round against Montpellier to help him win a 6-2 victory.

Lee had the pleasure of being named PSG's Goal of the Month. At the time, Lee Kang-in exchanged passes with Colomouni near the penalty arc in the eighth minute of the second half before sending a powerful left-footed mid-range shot to sway the net. It was a tremendous goal reminiscent of Lionel Messi, the "God of soccer" and senior player at PSG. "Lee Kang-in scored a goal by making wise choices and passing simple passes without waste. Everyone had to admit it as a wonderful goal," Le Parisien praised.

In the second leg of the UEFA Champions League UCL round of 16 against Real Sociedad on the 6th of last month, he helped and scored an attack point in 12 days.

Then, Lee Kang-in displayed stellar performance in two consecutive A matches in March. In the third Group C match of the second qualifying round for the "2026 FIFA North-Central America World Cup" against Thailand held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on April 21, he was substituted in the second half and played 26 minutes, but failed to smile as Korea drew 1-1. However, he started in an away match against Thailand on April 26, and assisted Son Heung-min in the ninth minute of the second half to lead the team to a 3-0 complete victory. Since then, he has returned to PSG, playing in three consecutive matches, displaying stable performance.  

Lee Kang-in has four goals and three assists in official matches this season. UCL has one goal and one assist in six games. Attention is increasing on whether Lee Kang-in will score his fifth goal of the season on the UCL stage.  메이저 토토사이트