Five things you need to know about Paris Saint-Germain v FC Barcelona

If you haven't heard the news by now, here it is: FC Barcelona have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The two sides have met several times in recent years, including in the 2014/15 season in which the Catalans went on to win the competition.

Here are five key facts regarding the history between the two teams:

1) It will be the fourth meeting in the last five seasons between PSG and Barça in the Champions League, and the sixth in total. In 2012/13, the pair met in the quarter-finals, which ended all square (1-1 at Camp Nou and 2-2 at the Parc des Princes), although Barça went through on superior away goals. In 2014/15, they met in the group stage (3-1 in Barcelona, 2-3 in Paris), before meeting again in the quarter-finals, which Barça won 5-1 on aggregate en route to winning the competition.

2) PSG manager Unai Emery knows Barça very well. The Spaniard has faced the Catalans at the helm of Almeria (twice), Spartak Moscow (twice), Sevilla (nine times), and Valencia (ten times). In 23 games, however, Emery has just one win to go along with six draws and 16 defeats. His teams have scored 25 goals against Barça but have given up 58.

3) Lucas Digne arrived at Barça just this past summer after two seasons with PSG. Other connections between the two giants include a pair of Brazilians now at PSG — Maxwell and Motta — who served Barça nobly for many years. Motta, though, is suspended for the first leg.

4) With 36 points in 17 games, PSG are currently third in France’s Ligue 1, behind Nice (40 points) and Monaco (39 points). Barça, of course, must be wary of Edinson Cavani, who is enjoying a fine season with 16 goals in the league and another six in Europe. A teammate of Luis Suárez on the Uruguayan national team, Cavani is usually joined on the PSG attack by Ángel Di Maria and Lucas Moura.

5) Finally, the pairing of PSG with Barça in European competition seems to be a constant trend across the clubs’ other professional sports.  The women’s football teams met in last year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League with the French side winning 1-0 on aggregate. While in handball, the two teams are currently joint at the top of their Velux EHF Champions League group.