Xavi Hernandez believes Barcelona is still the favorite in its Champions League quarterfinal against Paris Saint-Germain despite a number of key injuries in defense and the possibility Lionel Messi could also miss the second-leg clash.

Xavi said that two away goals and home advantage should still be enough to see Barca into its sixth consecutive Champions League semifinal.

"We have 90 minutes left at home and we will play in front of our fans, who showed the top level of devotion in the game against Milan," he was quoted as saying in an interview on uefa.com published on Monday.

"The shame has been the injuries, Mascherano's just as much as Leo's. We are going to see how Leo is, Mascherano it seems will miss four to six weeks and they are important absences. But we have a good result, we are favorites, playing at home and there are 90 minutes to play."

The tie promises to be another special night at the Nou Camp after Barca produced a stunning comeback to reverse a 2-0 first-leg deficit to beat AC Milan 4-2 on aggregate in the previous round.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 04/10/2013 page23)