Barcelona Makes Historic Champions League Comeback: Defeats PSG To Advance

It was with nearly the last kick of the game that Sergi Roberto scored from close range to knock Paris Saint-Germain out and make Champions League history.

While the Catalan giants required last minute heroics to go through, their arch-rivals Real Madrid were pretty comfortable against Napoli as they qualified 6-2 on aggregate.

No team has ever come back from a four-goal deficit to advance to the next round, according to The Guardian, but Barcelona just did it.

A goal from their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez gave them hope after just three minutes but his worldwide team-mate Edinson Cavani appeared to have killed the dream on 63 minutes.

There were long odds on Barcelona going through, and the bolder punters got their reward.

If the French champions score in the Camp Nou Stadium Barca would need to score six times in order to bring about the miracle, and although winger Angel Di Maria is struggling to be fully fit, that is a huge ask for Luis Enrique’s men.

But because the visitors had an away goal, the hosts needed to score again.

That dip in form, which saw Barca lose three consecutive league games for the first time in 13 years, was the first sign that the wheels were starting to come off a spectacular machine that had rolled to the treble in his first season. And that’s exactly what they got, grabbing a trio of goals in an unbelievable climax.

Barca scored last three in seven minutes and 17 seconds – 88 said the clock, then 91, then 94.39.

Barcelona’s midfielder Sergi Roberto, left, celebrates after scoring a goal Wednesday.

Nothing, however, compared to the challenge faced against PSG, a side that hadn’t lost in 16 matches overall and completely outplayed Barcelona during the first leg in Paris. Barcelona had tons of goalscoring chances throughout the game, the defence was pushed up into PSG’s half and high pressing, high risk strategy successfully choked PSG. They were scared, weak in duels, imprecise in passing, unfocused in front of Ter Stegen and that’s something quality teams like Barcelona doesn’t forgive.

“Football bloody hell” – said Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United’s dramatic comeback to clinch the Champions League versus Bayern Munich in Barcelona back in 1999. But that away goal made their task a bit easier than Barca’s was, and Real Madrid progressed with a 4-0 second leg victory.

While Enrique is on his way out of the Nou Camp, the future surrounding Barca’s star forward Messi remains unclear.

Still recovering from the shock, United finally provided the knockout blow in the 93rd minute through Ole Gunnar Solksjaer who also came on as a second half substitute.

But PSG coach Unai Emery was hammered in the same paper, which gave him a three out of 10 performance rating, one of the worst ever seen (bad scores usually sit around four or five). “The Spanish champions have scored 11 goals in their past two matches and conceded only one goal”.