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It took seven years but Paris Saint-Germain finally paid Barcelona back for La Remontada.
PSG earned a 4-1 win in the second leg of the clubs’ Champions League quarterfinal clash Tuesday night to prevail 6-4 on aggregate.
Barcelona appeared to have one foot in the semifinal when Raphinha scored in the 12th minute, only for the match to turn on its head after Ronald Araújo received a red card in the 29th minute. The home side’s downfall wasn’t immediate but quickly cascaded.
Ousmane Dembélé got a goal back for Paris Saint-Germain before halftime. Vitinha leveled the tie up in the 54th minute. And the comeback was complete after a João Cancelo foul allowed Kylian Mbappé to step up to the penalty spot and hammer home the pivotal tally.
Mbappé put the finishing touches on the result in the 89th minute, scoring from close range after Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen had successfully parried away two scoring chances.
World football fans have grown accustomed to Paris Saint-Germain unraveling in the knockout stages of the Champions League. On Tuesday, the shoe was on the other foot.
The score doesn’t do justice to the scale of Barça’s collapse. The team simply looked bereft of ideas after Araújo’s red card and manager Xavi earned his own sending-off midway through the second half, a moment that laid bare how badly he and his club lost their heads.
Social media had a field day with the Catalans’ reversal of fortunes.
Diana Kristinne @DianaKristinne
Various Barça issues tonight:<br>1. Fundamentally they’re not good, we knew this. Can’t hold the ball well, can’t build up well. <br>2. 66% of the starting midfield was barely back from injury<br>3. Araujo did the dumbest thing possible<br>4. Cancelo did the second dumbest thing possible
Pythagoras In Boots ⚽️ @pythaginboots
Xavi completely and utterly mismanaged that 10 men situation. He managed it exactly how England managers tend to respond to moments of adversity… cower and just keep all the experienced players on and take off all the avenues of progression. Just sitting there like a duck… <a href=”https://t.co/HscOidEGQH”>pic.twitter.com/HscOidEGQH</a>
The Champions League was Barcelona’s last chance to secure some major silverware this season. The club was dumped out of the Copa del Rey in the quarterfinals in January and sits eight points back of first-place Real Madrid in La Liga with seven matches to play.
It’s difficult to picture how this campaign could be unfolding any worse absent Barça winding up lower than fourth in La Liga and missing out on UCL revenue for next year.
The outlook for 2024-25 and beyond isn’t very promising, either. This might have been Barcelona’s best shot at winning the Champions League for the foreseeable future and those hopes went up in flames.