The Champions League Round of 16 clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain will go down in history as one of the most thrilling and dramatic encounters in football. After a 4-1 victory for PSG in the first leg, Barcelona faced an uphill battle to overturn the deficit at Camp Nou.
Despite taking an early lead through Lionel Messi, PSG quickly responded with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Moise Kean. As Barcelona pushed forward in search of goals, they left themselves vulnerable at the back, allowing Mbappe to complete his hat-trick and secure a 4-1 win for PSG.
PSG looked to get back in the game and were gifted the initiative after a mistimed challenge from Ronald Araujo saw the defender sent off inside the first half and hour.
That red card changed the momentum of the match and Ousmane Dembele took advantage to pull PSG level on the night before a long-ranged strike from Vitinha equalised the aggregate scores.
The visitors then won a penalty in the second half with Kylian Mbappe calmly slotting in home before putting the icing on the cake with Paris’ fourth in 89th minute.
As Barca tried to find a goal to take the game to extra time, Mbappe made the most of a counter attack to score from close-range and wrap up a semi-final place against Borussia Dortmund.
Xavi Hernández was sent off for dissent shortly before the third goal, so his brother Óscar took charge and sent on Ferran Torres as Barça had a half-hour to find at least one goal to get back in the tie. Robert Lewandowski forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a very good save, and the Catalans had not yet given up as we reached the final 15 minutes.
Xavi and Óscar made one last roll of the dice with two attacking changes that brought João Félix and Fermín López into the fold and moved Raphinha to left-back, and Barça threw caution to the wind looking for a late miracle.
The final whistle came to end yet another tragic night in Europe for Barça, but this one doesn’t even begin to compare to Rome, Anfield or Bayern. Barça were the better team for almost all of the first 120 minutes of the tie and probably would have qualified if not for the Araujo red card that changed everything. Barça fought as hard and for as long as they could, but PSG’s talent eventually took over
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