Barca emerges out to be victorious after routing PSG on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes football stadium in Paris, France. Barcelona will now take a one goal lead into next week’s second leg in Spain. In the electrifying showdown between Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and their defending champions Barcelona, Brazilian professional football player – Raphael Dias Belloli secured a brace which brought Barca to the winning side by a score of 3-2.
The football games nowadays are all about expecting the unexpected, whether the talk goes about Arsenal comeback against Brighton in an exhilarating match of Premier league or the latest glittery win of Barca against PSG in UEFA giving them their first victory in knockout matches in last Four years.
Sparkling moments of the contest
Prior to the match, Former wing men but now rival mentors, Luis Enrique and Xavi were seen giving each other a hearty hug in the tunnel before their teams locked horn in a fiery match. The game began with Barca being on the gayly side as they took lead in the early minutes. PSG did well to defend the goals with Ter Stagan made good saves to deny Lee and Asensio. PSG who marched on the ground unbeaten in their previous 27 games in all known contests was seen being edged by Barca towards the losing side. Barca’s forward Raphinha secured his first goal bringing the match score to 1-0 in the first half.
PSG was seen dominating in the early moments of second half with O. Dembele equalized the score by hitting a powerful goal into the top corner before Ter Stagan could react. Just 2 minutes later, rallying behind Dembele, Vitinha scored a goal providing PSG a turnaround, bringing the score to PSG 2- Barca 1. But the final goals by Raphinha and A. Christensen changed the headline of the story. At the 77th minute, Christensen gave the final touch to the match with his goal without having to jump as he just met it and thumped his header past the goalkeeper and settled the final score of the match to 3-2.
Raphinha left the Barca fans shouting in ecstasy as he scored the lead with a rebound strike in the 37th minute after goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to clear a cross from his box. With the end, Barca did not only win the match but also left Paris Saint-Germain conceding three goals in a home UEFA Champions League match for the first time since losing 3-1 to Manchester United in March 2019.
Here’s what Barca’s manager said after the win
After the fabulous victory of Barca in the first leg of the UEFA’s quarter final, its manager Xavier Hernández Creus a former Spanish footballer commented on Raphinha’s blaring performance in an interview post the match as he said, “He is a different and differential player because of his potential. He is one of the best players in the world in space,” he said. “He finishes a lot, he has goals. He gives us dynamism, he pressures, he is intense, he has a lot of virtues. I am very happy for him, he deserves it. Very proud.”
Manager Xavi Hernandez told reporters, “We should be proud to say that Barca is alive,”. He also added, “We understood how we had to work against one of the best teams in the world. It’s a small advantage but a victory that generates even more excitement in our city and within our fans.”
When asked about the upcoming battle against PSG in the final leg, he said, “PSG are still the favorites. It will be very difficult to win in Barcelona,” he said. “Today we played well because we were united defensively. I’m very proud, everything worked well. We have to improve our concentration in the first minutes of the second half. We managed to mature and recover from a match that became very difficult.”
In the match report released on the official site of FC Barcelona, it has quoted about the final leg that “Nothing is decided yet. Nothing can be taken for granted against a team like PSG. But Barça are in a very good place indeed right now, and will be departing the French capital with very big smiles on their faces. Smiles that are being shared right now by Culers all around the world!”.
