UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 leg 1: PSG 4-0 FC Barcelona
4-0! Are we talking about the almighty FC Barcelona and its magical trident? Messi, Neymar and Suarez all did play tonight but were transparent.
This is a headline we did not expect to write. FC Barcelona had the possession of the ball in this game, like as usual, but was overwhelmed by the French team who decided to not respect them. It seems that FC Barcelona underestimated their rivals tonight… Indeed 2 goals in each half for Paris sends FC Barcelona to their deepest doubts and to an enormous task in leg 2. Paris was the better team from start to finish and left no chance at all to FC Barcelona. PSG’s trashing of Barcelona is very surprising but well-deserved.
This tie is not over but a FC Barcelona comeback is very improbable. Coaches comment on the night:
Coach Emery on a fantastic performance:
“We played really well tonight, we worked hard and stuck together. We were focused for the full 90 minutes, took our chances, we were solid, individually and as a team, in order to win this match. Now we have to keep working hard for the return leg. I’m very happy that we played well and the supporters enjoyed the game and were always right behind the team.”
Angel Di Maria who scored a brace tonight on his birthday added:
“We worked very hard to prepare for this match. It was a very big game, a special match, against one of the best teams in the world. We did what we had to do. We will give it everything at the Camp Nou, where it will be another very tough game, and complete a fantastic job.”
Coach Enrique on being outrageously dominated:
“There’s a simple explanation. Our opponents were superior, they won a majority of the duels, and they were effective.”
“The score reflects what happened in the game. We’re a team that has shown time and again that we know how to come up big,” he said. “It will be tough, but we’ll have a chance.”
In the other leg, Benfica took a slight advantage over Borussia Dortmund to the second leg with 1-0 victory.
I expected PSG to keep ahead of things,I just can’t believe how they managed to concede all those goals to fall out of the race.
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