Laurent Blanc rues PSG absentees after humbling Barcelona loss

Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc was left to rue the absence of key players after the French champions were humbled 3-1 at home by Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

PSG were without suspended striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti, who was sorely missed along with the injured Thiago Motta as PSG suffered their first home defeat in a European game since 2006.

The Parisians were also quickly deprived of centre back Thiago Silva, who was substituted in the 21st minute by fellow Brazilian David Luiz with a hamstring injury.

"I hope we can go to Barcelona in a better physical shape," Blanc told a news conference.

"We would need four or five fresh players."

Without their key playmakers, PSG failed to control the midfield and regularly lost the ball to possession-hungry Barcelona.

"When a team make their opponents chase the ball, they have more chances of winning the game," said Blanc, whose team usually enjoy more possession than their opponents.

"We were not good enough in that department."

Barcelona enjoyed 62 per cent of possession and they made the most of it, also benefiting from PSG's shaky defending after Luiz came on.

The Brazil centre back was originally ruled out by PSG for four weeks with a hamstring injury, but he returned to the bench on Wednesday.

Sports daily L'Equipe reported that Luiz received treatment in Russia.

"There is not just one medicine. There are other methods that can bring faster results than classical medicine," said Blanc without elaborating.

Luiz, however, was far from his best and Suarez slipped the ball through his legs twice before scoring in the 67th and 79th minutes.

PSG, who knocked out Chelsea in the last round in what Blanc described as a turning-point in the big-spending club's history, can only hope to play better at the Nou Camp.

"But it won't be easy because our schedule means that we have an important Ligue 1 game at Nice in two 1/2 days," Blanc said.

PSG, who have one game in hand, lost the Ligue 1 lead earlier on Wednesday when Olympique Lyonnais leapfrogged them with a 2-0 home win over Bastia.