Barcelona made Champions League history by becoming the first team to overturn a first-leg 4-0 deficit and knock out Paris St-Germain to reach the quarter-finals for the 10th successive season.
The Spanish champions were 5-3 down on aggregate in the 88th minute, but Neymar’s free-kick and penalty followed by Sergi Roberto’s 95th-minute winner sealed victory.
Barcelona had led 2-0 at the break courtesy of Luis Suarez’s header after just three minutes and Layvin Kurzawa’s own goal.
Neymar then fell over Thomas Meunier in the box and Lionel Messi converted the penalty just four minutes into the second half.
Edinson Cavani lashed home for PSG on 61 minutes as the tie looked to be over for Barcelona, but they obviously had not read the script.
Neymar curled a sumptuous free-kick into the top corner before Suarez won a penalty and gave it to the Brazilian to convert.
Substitute Roberto then netted his first goal of the season in one of the greatest Champions League ties of all time.
How Barcelona made history – minute by minute
- 3: Luis Suarez goal, Barcelona 1-0 PSG (1-4)
- 40′: Layvin Kurzawa own-goal, Barcelona 2-0 PSG (2-4)
- 50′: Lionel Messi penalty, Barcelona 3-0 PSG (3-4)
- 62′: Edinson Cavani goal, Barcelona 3-1 PSG (3-5)
- 88′: Neymar free-kick, Barcelona 4-1 PSG (4-5)
- 90’+1: Neymar penalty, Barcelona 5-1 PSG (5-5)
- 90’+5: Sergi Roberto goal, Barcelona 6-1 PSG (6-5)
Greatest European comebacks of all time – the stats
Does anything compare to Barca’s achievement on Wednesday night?
Their exploits at the Nou Camp surpassed the previous best second-leg comeback in Champions League history, which was achieved by Deportivo against reigning champions AC Milan in 2004.
Trailing 4-1 from the first leg of their quarter-final tie, Deportivo raced into a 3-0 lead in the return leg and, with 14 minutes remaining, clinched a 5-4 aggregate win when Fran volleyed in the Spanish side’s fourth goal of the night.
A four-goal first-leg deficit has been overturned in other Uefa competitions, by three other clubs:
- Borussia Monchengladbach v Real Madrid (1985-86 Uefa Cup)
Real welcomed Borussia Monchengladbach for the second leg of a third-round Uefa Cup tie after the German side had won 5-1 at home, and the Spanish club secured a thrilling 4-0 victory to advance to the last eight.
- Leixoes v La Chaux-de-Fonds (1961-61 Cup Winners’ Cup)
Leixoes were crushed 6-2 at La Chaux-de-Fonds, but the Swiss side buckled 5-0 at the Estádio do Mar in the return leg.
- Partizan v QPR (1984-85 Uefa Cup)
QPR won the first leg 6-2 – which was played at Highbury as they couldn’t use the plastic pitch at Loftus Road – but lost 4-0 in Belgrade and went out on away goals.
A tale of two teams – Paris St-Germain unrecognisable
PSG stunned Luis Enrique’s men in the first leg as they completely outplayed the Spanish champions – 16 shots on goal with 10 on target as they inflicted a 4-0 defeat.
Angel di Maria, Cavani and Julian Draxler were in superb form as manager Unai Emery masterminded his first victory over Barca in 23 attempts.
But their attacking threat from three weeks ago was replaced by a nervous and clumsy defence as PSG looked resigned to a night of toil from the off.
The defence were a shambles – Marco Verratti and Marquinhos let the ball bounce for the first goal, Marquinhos again failed to deal with the second, and Meunier got in the way of Neymar to concede a penalty for the third.
Pressed back to the edge of their penalty box, they were unable to assert any dominance in midfield and with Di Maria on the bench, still feeling the effects of an injury, there was no outlet for the passes.
Cavani, in prolific goalscoring form, gave his side a hope of holding on in the 62nd-minute, but he will inevitably face familiar criticism after missing vital chances to put the tie to bed.
Emery, who led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles from 2014-2016, got his tactics very wrong in what was a disastrous result for PSG.
The domestic title is far from safe, they are three points behind Monaco in Ligue 1 and will need to recover quickly to keep up their challenge for a domestic double.
They’ve lost in the last eight in each of the past four years of the Champions League, but didn’t even make it that far this season thanks to Barcelona’s brilliance.
[BBC]
