Barcelona proved to be too much for Paris Saint-Germain as the two sides met for the fourth time this Champions League season.
The odds were against Laurent Blanc’s Paris Saint-Germain as they paid a visit to the fortress of Camp Nou in Barcelona. After a disappointing performance in the first leg, the Ligue 1 side was in need of at least three goals if they were to move on to the semi-finals and that was to be done without letting the all-star lineup of Barcelona get any past them. In the first leg, PSG had lacked the finishing power of Ibrahimovic up front and on top of that, Edinson Cavani had played an awful game, missing precious opportunities that his side were able to create. With Pique looking a little shaky at the back, Mascherano and defensive midfielder Ivan Rakitic tried to double-team the big Swede and prevent him from having even a glance at ter Stegen’s goal.
From the starting whistle, Barcelona controlled the possession and PSG were forced to chase. The home side were already proving to be a handful with their quick passing, dribbling skills, and their movement off the ball. With just three minutes gone, David Luiz gave an indication of what his night would turn out to be with a frenzied tackle on Rakitic about thirty five yards out. With the 3-1 aggregate score in their favor, Barcelona didn’t turn up the pressure at all but defended by constantly possessing the ball.
The breakthrough for Barca came in the fourteenth minute through Neymar. The young Brazilian netted his fourth goal against PSG in their four UEFA Champions League clashes this season. Andres Iniesta provided the breathtaking assist, cooly running past three PSG defensive players and slotting a perfectly weighted pass to Neymar. David Luiz was caught wrong-footed and all the Brazilian had to do was take a quick touch past his countryman and fire a low shot past Sirigu. PSG’s effort off the restart was easily collected by ter Stegen.
While the visitors created some good chances for themselves through the midfield, they were ultimately broken up or collected by ter Stegen’s assertive goalkeeping. Paris looked slow and uninspired after Barcelona’s first goal. On the other end, Dani Alves and Neymar forced a spectacular double save from Sirigu but ten minutes later the little Brazilian won out and netted his second on the night. Dani Alves sent in a tantalizing cross that sailed over the head of a star-gazing David Luiz and was calmly met by the number eleven. Paris Saint-Germain’s back line was not as frazzled as they had been in the first leg but two careless mistakes from David Luiz had put them down two goals on the night and five on aggregate.
With the insurmountable scoreline facing them throughout the second forty-five, PSG played like a deflated side who just wanted to see out the second half and go home. Barcelona stepped it up a bit and put on some charming displays of quick passing and magisterial dribbling from Lionel Messi. Every touch Barcelona players took seemed to be collected on the tip of their boots with Velcro. Outclassed and exhausted from ball chasing, PSG made a few uninspired pushes to ter Stegen’s goal in the second half but didn’t force any acrobatic saves the young German is capable of. Ibrahimovic was silenced thanks to Barcelona’s tactics and Pastore, who had played such a brilliant game in the first leg and created the only good chances for PSG in both matches, had a few good balls in but his efforts were in vain.
Barcelona finished out the match with the two first-half goals and boasted a 5-1 aggregate score. They will roll on to the semi-finals and look like a side with the quality to go all the way under Luis Enrique.
