15 April,2015 08:25 AM IST | | Agencies
On the eve of his side's first leg quarter-final clash against Barcelona, PSG coach is wary of attacking threat posed by mercurial forward
Barcelona's Lionel Messi runs with the ball during their Champions League Last 16 clash against Man City last month. (Inset) PSG's coach Laurent Blanc
Paris: Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc has described Lionel Messi as 'unstoppable' ahead of tonight's Champions League tussle with Barcelona.
PSG's coach Laurent Blanc. Pic/AFP
The Argentine forward has been in incredible form in 2015 and has scored 45 goals in 44 games so far this season to propel the Catalan club to the top of La Liga and into the final of the Copa del Rey.
Messi scored in both clashes with PSG last year, although Blanc is wary of putting all of his defensive eggs in one basket when there are also the likes of Luis Suarez and Neymar to worry about.
"Lionel Messi is unstoppable," he told reporters. "If he scores 40 goals, he's had a bad season!
"But we can't just focus on him. The solution must be collective, man marking doesn't work. We will need to be aggressive defensively but in the good sense of the term, to be able to stop their attackers."
PSG will be hoping they can replicate their win over Luis Enrique's side at Parc des Princes in the Champions League group stage in today's tie, with the return leg at Camp Nou to be played six days later.
PSG have been eliminated in the Last Eight on away goals in each of the last two seasons, including losing to Barcelona in 2013.
As they look to finally make it back to the semi-finals 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.
Barcelona's Lionel Messi runs with the ball during their Champions League Last 16 clash against Man City last month. Pic/Getty Images
A point clear at the top of Ligue 1, they are on course to win an unprecedented clean sweep of the domestic honours after mercilessly crushing Bastia 4-0 in the final of the League Cup.
PSG to miss Zlatan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored 13 times in his last seven matches for club and country, but he will miss the meeting 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 their talisman, who has 28 goals in total this season.
