Good or bad night in Paris?

The Spanish football journalist Sid Lowe remarked two years ago that, due to the sparse amount of points that Real Madrid and Barcelona tend to drop in a La Liga season, a draw often feels like a defeat for them.

The same could be said after Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain last night. What would have been a more than respectable result going into the game felt like a disastrous one when Wolfgang Stark blew the final whistle in the Parc de Princes, just seconds after Blaise Matuidi’s deflected goal had levelled the score in the final minute of stoppage time.

“It's a very good result, but given how the game developed and the superiority that we showed, we feel hard done by,” said assistant Coach Jordi Roura after the game.

Stark, the German official who provoked Jose Mourinho’s ire when he sent off Pepe during Barcelona's semi-final clash with Real Madrid two years, had this time hurt the Catalans.

“There were some questionable decisions and we certainly didn't benefit from them,” Roura added, in reference to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal to make the score 1-1, which was several feet offside.

Barca also thought the free-kick that led to the goal should have been awarded the other way and they were not entirely happy with Stark’s tolerance of PSG’s physicality, either.

They were further hurt by the injuries to Javier Mascherano and Leo Messi. The centre-back would have missed the second leg at the Camp Nou anyway after picking up a yellow card on the night but has now been ruled out of action for at least four weeks with a knee injury.

His absence adds to that of captain Carles Puyol, sidelined for at least another month after undergoing a knee operation, meaning that one of the inexperienced duo of Alex Song or Marc Bartra could partner Gerard Pique in central defence in the second leg. Another option, one which Tito Vilanova has used on occasion this season, would be to play Sergio Busquets at centre-back.

More worrying for Barca is the injury to Messi. The Argentine opened the scoring on 38 minutes but pulled a hamstring before half-time and is expected to be out for at least two weeks, meaning he will in all likelihood miss the return leg.

Messi has scored 51 of Barcelona's 107 goals in La Liga and the Champions League this season and it does not take a seasoned football analyst to know he is the focal point in Barcelona's attack. While all Barca need to do to qualify for the semi-finals is avoid defeat next Wednesday at the Camp Nou – where they have not lost in Europe since October 2010 – should they go a goal behind, they will find it much harder to get an equaliser than they would if La Pulga were on the pitch.

Despite the injuries, the sense of injustice due to Ibrahimovic’s goal and the frustration of conceding another equaliser so late on, especially after Xavi’s penalty looked to have won them the match, there was a lot in their performance in Paris for Barcelona to be pleased with.

Dani Alves was one of their outstanding performers. Due to the lack of energy of David Beckham, a surprise inclusion in the PSG starting line-up, the full-back was allowed to play much further up the pitch than usual, a role he thrived in, and his exquisite ball over the top allowed Messi to break the deadlock.

Xavi and Andres Iniesta, meanwhile, were at their usual best and allowed the Catalans to control the match, save for the opening and final stages.

This was a far better performance than the 0-2 defeat to Milan in San Siro in the first leg of the Last 16. That result required an enormous response from Barca – one they provided – but much less is asked of them next Wednesday.

Speaking after the game, Iniesta appeared confident his team would progress: “It’s a good result but at this level everyone knows how difficult it can be. We are playing the next leg at home and we showed in the second leg against Milan that we know the best way to play, which is to reproduce the intensity and enthusiasm we showed then.”

One thing that may well be preying on Barca’s mind, however, is the knowledge they will be without the man whose two goals set them on their way that night, and who has been their main inspiration this season.

La Liga - Club News