PSG have reason to be fearful, but there is hope ahead of Barcelona

In Parisian football nothing can be said to be certain, except navigating minefields of merde de chien (dog's mess) in the streets outside Parc des Princes or Stade de France and Paris Saint-Germain coming up against Barcelona or Chelsea at some stage in the UEFA Champions League each year.

With Antonio Conte's Blues out of continental competition this season, Les Parisiens could only come up against Barcelona by default, the team they were praying to avoid. But the French champions' prayers went unanswered and the pair will meet in the campaign of last 16.

It will be the third time in the past five years that the duo have met in the latter stages of the Champions League and they were also in the same group, which Barca ultimately topped, in the 2014-15 edition of the competition.

On the face of it, PSG have been handed the worst-possible draw at the worst-possible time. Unai Emery's men are four points behind surprise Ligue 1 leaders OGC Nice after Sunday's 2-2 draw in Paris, and without a win in three matches across all competitions.

Having looked almost certain to finish top of Group A this term, an inexplicable 2-2 draw at home to Ludogorets Razgrad last Tuesday ensured that chance was blown and Arsenal went through in top spot instead.

Looking at the Gunners' draw against Bayern Munich -- another tie stuck on repeat -- PSG would have been no better off in the place of Arsene Wenger's men, but surely they would have rather faced a Bayern Munich side still finding their feet under Carlo Ancelotti instead of toiling Barcelona.

However, Barca it is and PSG have plenty of reasons to be fearful right now. For a start, the Ligue 1 giants are majorly off the boil and the pressure is on Emery and his players to get back on track against Lille OSC in the Coupe de la Ligue, as well as EA Guingamp and FC Lorient in Ligue 1 before the winter break.

One of the main reasons why the French capital outfit are so sluggish right now is that many key players are not at their usual best levels. It's making the team extremely cumbersome as Emery tries to establish his preferred formation and strongest starting XI.

Emery's own record against Barcelona does not make for pretty reading either; the Basque tactician has won just once in his 23 games against the Blaugrana across all competitions and he faces a tough task to add to the 3-2 victory masterminded by predecessor Laurent Blanc in the 2014-15 group stage.

There are some reasons for PSG hope, though. It's true that most players are yet to find their best form and that plus their fitness could play an influential role. Additionally, there is time for Barca to get back to their unstoppable best, Les Parisiens still have to welcome Javier Pastore back from injury.

Marco Verratti and Layvin Kurzawa need to be brought up to speed, while Angel Di Maria is also experiencing difficulties, Giovani Lo Celso is yet to arrive and work is needed in defence and midfield.

Director of football Patrick Kluivert has promised January arrivals and if those aforementioned areas are fixed, PSG will suddenly stand a much better chance of upsetting Barca. It will take a lot of work to get there though, particularly in terms of shifting the squad current mentality.

Although the situation looks hugely negative right now, it may well be very different come Feb. 14 at Parc des Princes. Massive improvement is needed, but this PSG team are capable of much better than they have shown so far and the players know it.