This time there was no remontada.
PSG retained Barcelona’s best efforts for a second stunning Champions League comeback in four years, seeing Lionel Messi & Co. Wednesday with a 1-1 draw in their second leg of the round of 16, which ensured an aggregate victory of 5-2 and a place in the quarter-finals.
Almost four years after the day of his comeback from trailing 4-0 in the first leg in the Champions League round of 16 vs. PSG, Barcelona went to the Parc des Princes to make up a 4-1 deficit. “La Remontada”, as the 6-1 victory in the second leg in 2017 became known, consisted of a packed Camp Nou and an influential Neymar who helped Barcelona overwhelm a shocked PSG.
This time Neymar was talking to PSG (though injured on Wednesday), and the setting was an empty stadium in the rainy French capital, with a PSG side having been a bit more battle tested in the Champions League after reaching the final final . season.
Keylor Navas was a sensational goal for the hosts, denying Ousmane Dembélé several times, while Kylian Mbappé’s first half penalty gave PSG some early breathing room. Lionel Messi’s sensational long-term goal gave Barcelona some hope, and it looked like the total backlog would be just two at half-time on the second leg after Antoine Griezmann earned a penalty, but Messi’s penalty kick was saved by Navas, and Barcelona never got. closer.
Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman changed his tactics with a more aggressive 3-4-3, with the visitors knowing they had to go for it. US international Sergiño Dest cracked the XI, starting on the right wing in front of the back line with three men.
Barcelona’s first glimpse of danger came in the fifth minute, when Dembele rushed to the endline and cut a ball back for Messi, whose shot was blocked by a pair of PSG defenders.
Messi was awarded a free kick from 25 yards three minutes later on a foul that resulted in a booking for Layvin Kurzawa, but he shot his shot far over the crossbar of Navas’ goal.
Dembele forced a save from Navas in just over 10 minutes, forcing the Costa Rican veteran to go down and stop to his left to make the stop, but it was all easy enough as PSG continued to nurture its comfortable advantage.
Staying active, Dembélé ran to the PSG defense before firing his right from 18 yards two minutes later, only to take his chance. As the game lasted 18 minutes, Dembélé Navas tested again, running on a well-beaten through ball from Messi and forcing a similar but more difficult save than the first.
Then it was Dest’s turn to test Navas, with his powerful shot from a tight right hook to the woodwork aided by the PSG goalkeeper.
After all of Barcelona’s work in the beginning, it was PSG that scored first. Clement Lenglet was whistled for a penalty kick after VAR review for tripping Mauro Icardi, and Mbappé stepped to the spot and scored in the 31st minute, giving PSG a 5-1 overall lead. Barcelona’s goal apparently remained the same: four goals. Only now would four goals force extra time.
Dembele was again denied by Navas as Barcelona continued to try to play away, with his 35th minute chance right on the goalkeeper. Barcelona finally broke through for a few minutes, and it happened in a spectacular way. Messi fired a long-range punch with his powerful left foot, making the score 1-1 on the day and reducing the overall deficit to 5-2.
Messi missed a golden opportunity to bring it back to 5-3 just before half time. Antoine Griezmann was fouled in the PSG box by Kurzawa, giving Barcelona a penalty, but Navas saved Messi’s penalty kick by sending it off the crossbar to keep the three-goal lead at the break.
PSG stabilized during the first fifteen minutes of the second half, but Barcelona almost scored on the hour, with Messi and Griezmann both holding deep in the PSG box, only for a horde of defenders to close all firing ranges before coming in safety came. .
PSG saw the game from there, joining Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Porto as the first four teams in the quarter-finals.