There was no reassembly this time.
PSG avoided Barcelona’s best efforts for a second Champions League turnaround in four years, eliminating Lionel Messi & Co. with a 1-1 draw in the round of 16 second leg on Wednesday, which ensured a victory aggregate of 5-2 and a place in the quarterfinals.
Almost four years before the day of his return from a 4-0 deficit in the first leg in the round of 16 of the Champions League against PSG, Barcelona headed for Parc des Princes in search of overcoming the 4-1 handicap. “La Remontada”, as the 6-1 victory of the second leg in 2017 became known, featured a full Camp Nou and an influential Neymar who helped Barcelona surprise the distraught PSG.
This time, Neymar was representing PSG (despite being injured on Wednesday), and the scenario was an empty stadium in the rainy French capital, with a PSG team a little more tested in the Champions League after reaching the last end season.
Keylor Navas was sensational in the home team’s goal, preventing Ousmane Dembele on several occasions, while Kylian Mbappé’s penalty in the first half gave PSG some time to breathe. Lionel Messi’s sensational long-range goal gave Barcelona some hope, and it looked like the aggregate deficit would be just two before the second leg break, after Antoine Griezmann won a penalty, but Messi’s penalty was saved by Navas, and Barcelona never got any closer.
Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman changed his tactic to a more aggressive 3-4-3, with the visitors knowing they needed to move on. American international Sergiño Dest cracked the XI, starting on the right wing, in front of the three-man line of defense.
Barcelona’s first danger signal came in the fifth minute, with Dembele running to the bottom line and deflecting the ball to Messi, whose shot was blocked by two PSG defenders.
Messi had a 25-yard free kick three minutes later after a foul that resulted in a yellow card for Layvin Kurzawa, but he fired his shot just over Navas’ goal bar.
Dembele forced a defense from Navas in just over 10 minutes, forcing the Costa Rican veteran to go down and turn left to stop, but everything was straightforward as PSG continued to cultivate its comfortable advantage.
Dembele remained active, running in the defense of PSG before shooting with the 18-yard right two minutes later, just to get his chance. When the match reached the 18th minute, Dembele tested Navas once again, hitting Messi with a well-aimed ball and forcing a similar but more difficult defense than the first.
It was Dest’s turn to test Navas then, with his strong shot from a right angle on the right side, aided by the PSG goalkeeper over the crossbar.
After all the work of Barcelona at the beginning, it was PSG who scored first. Clement Lenglet received a penalty whistle after reviewing the VAR for stumbling over Mauro Icardi, and Mbappé scored and scored in the 31st minute, giving PSG an aggregate 5-1 advantage. Barcelona’s goal remained apparently the same – to score four goals. Only now, four goals would only force extra time.
Dembele was again denied by Navas, while Barcelona continued to try to deflect, with their chance in the 35th minute hitting the goalkeeper well. Barcelona finally stood out for a few minutes and spectacularly. Messi fired a long-range shot with his powerful left foot, making it 1-1 that day and reducing the aggregate deficit to 5-2.
Messi missed a golden chance to drop to 5-3 just before the break. Antoine Griezmann was knocked down in the PSG area by Kurzawa, giving Barcelona a penalty, but Navas defended Messi’s penalty kick, directing the ball over the crossbar and preserving the advantage of three goals in the interval.
PSG stabilized over the first quarter-hour of the second half, but Barcelona almost scored on the hour mark, with Messi and Griezmann both possessing in the bottom of the PSG area just for a horde of defenders to close any and all courses of fire before cleaning for safety.
PSG saw the match from there, joining Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund and Porto as the first four teams in the quarterfinals.