The verdict was clear and the majority concurred that Barcelona will not qualify for this year’s quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Why? They had been outplayed and totally dominated by Paris Saint Germain in the first leg. It was so bad that after the match; Luis Enrique – a very successful coach with the Catalans, was tagged a failure and calls for his exit resonated louder than the proverbial cathedral bell that wakes up the whole town.
Like real champions, the defeat in Paris became a shot in the arms to the Catalans as they suddenly regrouped and started playing the kind of football that made them famous all over the world. The goals followed in torrents as the terrible trio (Messi, Neymar and Suarez) made mess of defenses in LaLiga and taunted fabled goaltenders with their prowess in putting the ball away. Some, who are honed to note trends quickly identified the change in Barca and pointed out that fluency is back in their game. Others also opined that they are almost back to their best and could beat anyone once again.
Enrique- Believed it was possible
All these were validated when Luis Enrique, his troop and the fans (about 100,000 of them) with defiance faced down the gallant men from Paris on a seemingly futile journey of doing the unthinkable – overturn a four goal deficit to progress to the quarter finals of the European elite club competition. It was of course nothing esoteric that Barcelona would beat PSG at the Camp Nou. Most had concluded that they will defeat the Parisians by three goals to one and then exit the competition. The exception is the Coach who had otherideas.
That was what came to be after a Luis Suarez early goal on three minutes and Messi’s penalty sandwiched by an own goal from Layvin Kurzawa all within 50 minutes had given Barca a three goal lead. Camp Nou reverberated with the heat of the moment and the possibility of making history and turning logic on it head. The passion, noise and belief was dealt a huge blow when Edison Cavani scored on the 62nd minute. It was like prophecy came to be!
The balance of power shifted momentarily but Barcelona is made of sterner stuff. Aggregate score was 3-5. They needed three goals to complete the herculean task. Even the greatest optimist would agree that it was no mean feat to achieve and perhaps boys should go home and rest after a great effort. But the men from Catalonia are from different planet!
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Aided by the poor, tentative and almost scared PSG; Barcelona piled on the pressure. Wave after wave of attacks indicated another goal. It came at the 88th minute through Neymar and two minutes later; Barcelona were up 5-1 on the night and at par with PSG but with the Parisian ahead to qualify on away goals rule. However, the substitution made by Luis Enrique in the 76th came to be the decider in the additional time when Sergio Roberto scored the seventh goal and sixth of the night for Barca and sent the whole stadium into frenzy.
Against all odds, reasons, logics and whatnots; Barcelona overturned a four goal first leg Round of 16 deficit to qualify for the quarter finals. I know what you are thinking and I absolutely agree – ‘Just give them the cup”!
It was probably the greatest football match I had ever seen and will go down in history as the day impossibility became irrelevant. Those who give up should take a cue as the records broken yesterday are still being collated. OPTA Joe, over to you!
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