BEVERLY HILLS, March 10, (THEWILL) – Almost exactly four years ago, the match famously known as “La Remontada,” which is Spanish for “The Comeback,” was written into the annals of football history when Barcelona overcame a four-goal deficit in the second leg of their 2016/2017 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain to win 6–5 on aggregate for the largest ever comeback in UCL history.
That Camp Nou event was remarkable for many things. Angel Di Maria netted a brace, Draxler and Edinson Cavani scored one apiece in the first leg in Paris to give PSG all the assurance in the world that they had one leg in the next round already even before the whistle for the second leg was blown. Such was their dominance of that first leg that Barca only managed one shot on target throughout.
Everything changed in the second leg at Camp Nou to make La Remontada a reference point in football terms. An early third minute goal, an own goal, a penalty kick put a pep in Barca’s steps which was temporarily snuffed out by a Cavani goal that increased the threat to La Blaugrana’s qualification. But, up stepped Neymar to score two and assist another for a 6-1 victory and assured progress for Barca to the next round. La Remontada was complete.
On Wednesday, with Neymar, who had since switched clubs and who missed the first leg in the stands, as he continues his recovery from his adductor injury, PSG held off the Catalan giants as they met again in a thrilling contest, this time in the French capital, to progress to the quarterfinals of the UCL instead of their opponents.
Barca may have prayed for a miracle in this second leg, with the 4-1 deficit hanging over their heads from the first leg at home at Camp Nou last month and their fans may have believed it a possibility because it had happened before, but that was a better version of the club and their attempts at reliving that Remontada got off to the worst possible start in Paris.
After La Blaugrana began like a side determined to get a result similar to their 2017 comeback, PSG were awarded a penalty by a video assistant referee (VAR) review of an infringement in the box. The Barcelona nightmare, Kylian Mbappe, stepped up and with all Barca keeper, Marc-Andre Ter Stergen’s antics, coolly sent him the other way to take the edge off the bite of the visitors’ game and give them a higher mountain to climb.
As difficult a match as Tuesday’s tie was, this second leg was far less comfortable for Mauricio Pochettino’s PSG than the 1-1 scoreline would suggest, with Barcelona playing some of their best football for some time as they went in search of that unlikely comeback even with an extra goal to deal with. Perhaps, this sort of determined play in the first leg could have resulted in a completely different outcome but the Barcelona side of 2020/2021 is an unpredictable collection of highs and lows.
Lionel Messi has the answer to Mbappe’s goal in the 37th minute, firing a long-range effort that flew in past Keylor Navas in goal for PSG. It was a pile driver that could only be stopped by the net. And approaching the end of the first-half, Barça were handed the chance to head into the dressing rooms with the lead with a penalty award. Messi, having just restored parity on the night from 30 yards, missed from only 12 as Navas got a leg to his spot-kick to keep it out.
In search of an increasingly elusive victory, the visitors threw bodies forward in the second half with their La Remontada still on their minds. But, in 2021, the goals just did not come and the Catalan club suffered their earliest Champions League exit in 14 years.
Many will be the questions asked as to how the French forward Ousmane Dembele was simultaneously Barcelona’s most dangerous player of the match and their most disappointing on a night. What difference it could have made was Dembele more clinical and converted all the chances that came his way. A truly remarkable night of La Remontada may have been on the cards.
The opportunity to spearhead that sort of comeback in Paris would have been a special prospect for the Frenchman as he tore the PSG defence to pieces at times. He simply just could not find the finishes that his side needed, steadily losing his composure in the final third. The 23-year-old’s performance came to a disappointing head when he failed to make contact with a cross from just three yards out as any remaining glimmer of a comeback chance was extinguished.
The heartbreak of Messi’s penalty miss could have been assuaged on the night by a Dembele masterclass as he stepped up on the big stage for his club in his home country. But as it was, it was an evening that summed up his Barcelona career – lots of promise but ultimately a disappointment in the end.
On the other side of the performance spectrum was the remarkably impressive Navas. Put to the test throughout, the Spaniard had all the answers. His save from Messi’s penalty was excellent, albeit slightly fortuitous, and he produced a number of other top stops to give PSG the result.
Probably the pick of the bunch of his saves came early on as he tipped Dest’s shot onto the crossbar with a brilliant reaction stop. The former Real Madrid man will have revelled in the challenge of denying Barcelona, and without him the Parisians could have been in real trouble.
As for Mbappe, though he was kept from repeating the antics of his first leg hattrick, his goal took him to a huge milestone and the 22-year-old set new records while drawing comparisons with another of football’s wonderkids. The six UCL goals accredited to him this season brings him second only to the golden boy of Europe, Borussia Dortmunds Erling Haaland, who has scored 10.
Mbappe’s four goals against Barcelona throughout both legs is the most a player has ever scored against the Spanish side in a single season in the competition. And, he has taken over from Messi by becoming the youngest player to reach 25 UCL goals at 22 years & 80 days of age.
Barca’s ouster could have been predicted but the fans were living in the past. The chances came and went, and the likes of Dembele and Antoine Griezmann spurned their own potentially game-defining moments. But that is the story of this Barça side.
They were much improved compared to their first-leg display and were the dominant force in the first half in particular, firing in 16 shots, the most PSG have faced at home in the first 45 minutes of a game all season.
The game itself had moments of genius, and players such as Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Messi rolled back the years and clicked through the gears like they did for many a season. But, it was not enough anymore.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
