GIFT ROBERTS
Spanish giant, Barcelona has been knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by the French champions, Paris Saint Germain.
Lionel Messi and his teammate were stopped from proceeding to the quarter-final of the league last night in a scintillating encounter.
PSG opened the scoring after referee Antony Taylor awarded a penalty through the use of a video assistant referee, who deemed that Mauro Icardi had been fouled off the ball by Clement Lenglet in what seems to be a controversial decision.
The penalty was dispatched by Kylian Mbappe as he became the youngest player in Champions League history to reach 25 goals in the competition, taking the mantle from Messi.
Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman’s side needed to score four goals for the tie to swing in their favour in Paris, thereby starting like a team capable of producing them with Ousmane Dembele wasting some glorious early chances.
However, despite trailing by a lone goal deficit, the Catalans remained positive, as Messi equalised with a powerful shot from 25 yards that tore into the top left corner to inspire some hope, but that hope faded away when his penalty was saved by Keylor Navas just before half-time, as it remained obvious that the Spanish giants needed three second-half goals to force extra-time.
But PSG were much better organized after the break and restricted Messi’s influence on the game, this is his first miss from the spot in the Champions League since 2015.
Recall that it was at this same stage of the competition four years ago, Barcelona lost 4-0 in Paris only to win 6-1 at Camp Nou in one of the greatest comebacks in Champions League history, and it looked like a similar comeback could be possible judging by the tempo Barcelona were playing at the time.
Barca kept probing in the second half, and Messi had a chance from close range but hesitated a split-second before shooting and allowed defender Marquinhos to block his shot with the goal gaping, as the match ended in stalemate and PSG went through with a 5-2 goal aggregate.
Speaking after the game, Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman, said his side was superior in the first half as they had the opportunity to frustrate their opponent, but their hopes gradually fizzled out as PSG booked their spot in the last eight.
“We are out, which is what counts in this sport, but we leave with good sensations.
“We had opportunities to make things very complicated for our rival. We were the superior team in the first half, taking big risks at the back with man-to-man marking.
“Really, we deserved more for that effort. It should at least have been 2-1 to us at half-time. If we’d led at the break, the second half would have been a whole different affair.”
“Leo has seen for quite some time that the team is improving thanks to all the changes we’ve made.
“Particularly, we have young players of great quality. We’ve got a great future ahead.
“Leo can’t have any doubts about what the future holds for this team.”
This will be the first Champions League season without a Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo side in the quarter-finals since 2004/05.
PSG will now wait till Friday, March 19 when the draw is made, to find out their opponents in the last eight.