Past, present and possibly the future will go hand in hand when FC Barcelona take on Paris Saint Germain in the first leg of their quarter-final of the Champions League tie in Paris on Tuesday night.

The past comes in the shape of Paris striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovich, who spent an eventful year at Barca before leaving amid recriminations and criticism of former Barca coach, Pep Guardiola and striker Leo Messi against whom he was formed to take a secondary role.

The present is Barca coach. Tito Vilanova, who will be on the Barca dugout for the first time in over two months in the Stade de France.

Vilanova returned to Barcelona last Tuesday after two months in New York undergoing cancer treatment and although he was not present for his side's 2-2 draw away to Celta Vigo on Saturday night, he took Friday and Sunday's training sessions and travelled to Paris after the Sunday workout.

Meanwhile the future is the winger, Christian Tello, whose display in Vigo, in which he scored Barca's first goal and set up Messi for the second, may just have been him enough to win him a place in the side ahead of Pedro Rodriguez, who is suspended and attacking midfielder Cesc Fabrigas, who is currently in the middle of a worrying dip in form.

Other players who will be in the Barcelona starting 11 are midfielder Xavi Hernandez and Jordi Alba. Both returned injured from the recent international matches with Alba shaking off a calf strain in just under 10 days. Hernandez meanwhile, who is vital to the smooth running of the Barca midfield, aggravated a hamstring problem which has plagued him for the past two months and which has caused him to dose his efforts to ensure he is in shape for the big European nights.

Others who return to the side after being rested in Vigo are Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and David Villa, who will get his chance thanks to Pedro's suspension, while Javier Mascherano will partner Gerard Pique in central midfield.

Vilanova has told his players that they cannot afford any defensive lapses such as the one which allowed Celta to sneak a late equalizer on Saturday and means Dani Alves will have to be aware of his defensive duties, while Pique, whose season has been marred by lapses in concentration, will have to be at his best for the game, especially as he is likely to be given the task of dealing with the ever-dangerous Ibrahimovich from set pieces.

Barca need to avoid of the 2-0 defeat they suffered away to AC Milan in the last round; although they were able to overcome that setback with a heroic second leg fightback in the Camp Nou, Vilanova's men need to keep focused in defense and if possible score an away goal, something that with Leo Messi in the side they will be confident of doing.