PSG are one of the highest paid teams in the world, and were expected to hold on to a 4-0 first round lead so as to beat Barcelona in the European Champions League game. This is far worse than the Atlanta Falcons leading by 25 with 17 minutes to go in the Super Bowl and losing. “We overran them, they didn’t cross midfield”.
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Barcelona lost the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain, 4-0.
The penalty award was dubious but the officials had been carried along by the wave of emotion that seemed to be carrying Barcelona into the quarter-finals.
An electric atmosphere gripped the Nou Camp before kickoff after Suarez and Luis Enrique had said they truly believed a comeback was on and the players caught the wave of optimism by swarming all over PSG from the first whistle. “If there is a team that can score four goals, I think it is Barcelona, with our philosophy of how to play and controlling the game”. When the game started, Barcelona knew it needed to go hard – and they went hard! The tough La Liga fixture against Leganes, in which Barca won from a last minute penalty by Lionel Messi, was the final straw for the manager who won the treble in his first year in-charge at the club.
Enrique had been criticised in Paris by midfielder Sergio Busquets, who said that PSG “were much better tactically than us; they had a plan and executed it”, while Andres Iniesta said the heavy loss was “not down to attitude but due to football”.
The former England trio were, of course, complimentary of Barcelona, but made some interesting points about PSG’s tactics.
“If they can score four goals against us, we can score six”.
It was as if the game was over. The only way for Barcelona to advance was to somehow find another goal. Somehow, they did that!
However, Neymar restored Barca’s belief as he firstly fired home a sensational free-kick two minutes from time and then converted from the penalty spot.
The score sat at 3-1 for more than 25 minutes when Neymar made it 4-1 in the 88th. Coach Luis Enrique, who announced he would leave the club this summer, embraced Neymar and any other player or staff member within reach.
In Emre Mor (19), Julian Weigl (21), Raphael Guerreiro (23), Ousmane Dembele (19) and Christian Pulisic (18), they have footballing royalty-in-the-making but these are the footie equivalents of diamonds in the rough, not the complete product yet. After pulling off this miracle, is there any team that could possibly prevent Barca from winning the championship?
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Are you amazed that Barcelona was able to pull this comeback off, HollywoodLifers?
