Although Barça reconciled with the Champions League, Montjuïc is not the Camp Nou and the Barça team in the second leg was not the same as the one in the first leg at the Parc des Princes. The different circumstances that turned in favor of the Blaugrana in Paris turned against them in Barcelona. A controversial expulsion of Araujo (m.30) marked an emotional and football turning point in Barcelona fans and underlined PSG’s affront. Everything went well for the French, who only conceded a moment of glory to Lamine Yamal, assistant of a Raphinha goal that lit up Montjuïc. Luis Enrique’s players responded with four goals, two from Mbappé, after a very well-planned and better-resolved exercise to reach the semifinal against Borussia Dortmund. Barça responded to their inferiority with courage and competitiveness, always blaming the referee and Araujo’s attack.
1
Ter Stegen, Cancelo (João Félix, min. 82), Pau Cubarsí, Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Frenkie De Jong (Fermín López, min. 82), Pedri (Ferrán Torres, min. 61), Gündogan, Lamine Yamal, Raphinha and Lewandowski
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Gianluigi Donnarumma, Lucas, Achraf Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, Marquinhos, Warren Zaïre-Emery, Fabián (Marco Asensio, min. 76), Vitor Ferreira, Ousmane Dembélé (Randal Kolo Muani, min. 88), Kylian Mbappe and Bradley Barcola (Lee Kang-In, min.
Goals 1-0 min. 12: Raphinha. 1-1 min. 39: Ousmane Dembélé. 1-2 min. 54: Vitor Ferreira. 1-3 min. 60: Kylian Mbappe. 1-4 min. 89: Kylian Mbappe.
Referee István Kovács
Yellow cards Kylian Mbappe (min. 39), Fabián (min. 45), Lewandowski (min. 50), Marquinhos (min. 62), Gündogan (min. 64), Gianluigi Donnarumma (min. 86) and Fermín López (min. 97 )
red cards Ronald Araújo (min. 29) and Hernández Creus (min. 56)
It was not easy to maintain emotional control on the field after the aggressive environmental charge carried out at the entrance of the stadium by Barça radicals, especially unpleasant for their insults to Dembélé and Vinicius and so impatient that they mistook the Barça bus—and stoned it—for the of PSG. Although the smell of gunpowder faded quickly, the stands trembled with the excitement of the fans, nervous and expectant, optimistic and cautious, as if they did not have it all with them after recovering the old habits and forgotten routines from when their team ruled Europe. . There was neither euphoria nor fear, but rather a competitive tension that the players needed to absorb and manage in a dizzying match due to the drive of PSG, a team that does not speculate, and even less so with the score against the first leg: 2-3. The stress got the better of Araujo.
Barça defended more than they played and had survived so well until the half hour mark that they were winning 1-0 after a monumental play by Lamine Yamal that Raphinha finished off. The winger went deep down the right side, cut past Nuno Mendes, accelerated and crossed for the arrival of the Brazilian, who attacked the near post to beat Donnarumma. The Barça effectiveness was for a moment as dissuasive as the imbalance of Lamine Yamal. A transition and a goal that could have been two shortly after due to a shot by Lewandowski after ten minutes of Barça solidarity and a loss of ball by PSG. The French attack began as soon as Mbappé was taken from the center. Although the forward went to the ground after fighting with Cubarsí, as authoritative as he was exquisite in the cut and the pass, PSG overwhelmed Barça very close to Ter Stegen’s area.
Luis Enrique’s boys, more voracious than intense, floated Araujo, reduced Lewandowski with Lucas Hernández’s mark and isolated Raphinha. It took the Barcelona fans 11 minutes to have the ball and score 1-0. The French needed 40 to tie after Dembélé anticipated Cancelo. The French wingers were flying to the despair of the Barcelona full-backs. Dembélé was able to score 1-2 before the break and Barcola caused Araujo to be sent off after Ter Stegen denied Mbappé a double shot. The Uruguayan centre-back lost the ball and immediately knocked down Barcola on the edge of the area. The referee sent off the Uruguayan and Xavi removed Lamine Yamal to bring on Iñigo Martínez. The change, tactically justifiable, discouraged the fans.
The numerical inferiority of the Barcelona fans increased PSG’s superiority. It took the French less than an hour to sign the comeback with a cross shot from the edge of the Vitinha area that had no reply from any Barcelona defender. The Paris scorers repeated in Montjuïc. The 1-2 score tempered the PSG team to the point of conceding a very clear shot to Gündogan. The play, however, did not embolden the Barcelona fans, but rather unnerved Xavi, who was sent off for the third time during the season, and upset Cancelo. The Portuguese again entered Dembélé at the wrong time. Mbappé scored the penalty to the despair of Barça. Even Pedri, starting ahead of Fermín, was pouring his liver into his mouth while he did not stop shrinking the Montjuïc stands and PSG’s calm prevailed.
Luis Enrique’s team, as brave as it is exposed to the attack, does not know how to close the games, it is difficult for them to rest with the ball, more recognizable with Achraf, Zaire-Emery and Barcola than with the changes that the Asturian made with the score in favor and Barça on the attack. They were about to force extra time with a whip from Lewandowski that caused Donnarumma to stretch and a cross shot from Raphinha. When in doubt, Mbappé appeared at the last minute to resolve an excellent counterattack and sign the classification of Luis Enrique’s PSG to the wrath of Xavi. The referee’s performance will serve as an argument to excuse the elimination of a Barcelona team that was left halfway in its return four years later to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. He is not enough to give up his skin and his life to return to Europe’s honor roll.
The elimination ends the Barça streak – 13 games without losing – and forces the announcement of Xavi’s resignation to be resumed. The coach’s decision is now as controversial as the foul and expulsion that caused Araujo’s red card.
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