World has gone mad. Why Barcelona's comeback is the greatest shame in football history

Miracle! Only actions comparable to this word could help Barcelona advance to the next round. After losing to PSG in the first leg with a score of 0:4, the Catalans put themselves in a very difficult position. However, the fans who filled the Camp Nou believed in the final success of the Blaugrana.

An early goal in this match was important for Luis Enrique's team. And it happened! The first attack on the guests' goal led to the Parisians taking the goal. The ball was thrown from the penalty line into the center of the goalkeeper's area, where Suarez outplayed Trapp and headed the sphere in an arc into the goal from a couple of meters. The visitors' defender knocked the ball away, but did it out of the gate. The referee recorded the fact of the goal and pointed to the center - 1:0.

The Camp Nou got into a frenzy, with Barcelona's players gaining some confidence in their abilities as they circled the PSG penalty area. Unai Emery's team retreated to their goal. This is roughly the picture that was observed throughout the first half. The Catalans were practically unable to get through to the opponent's goal through 10 defenders. Therefore, sometimes the home team hit from afar. In the 17th minute, Neymar made a great shot - the ball flew centimeters from the top corner.

But despite the “bus” lined up at Trapp’s goal, Barca managed to score a second before the break. Luis Suarez threw the ball into the penalty area as Iniesta rushed, and he got ahead of Marquinhos at the goal line and decided to escalate the game with a backheel pass along the goal. Messi and Neymar ran into the pass, but Kurzawa cut the ball into his own goal with an awkward movement of his foot - 2:0. The Catalans had two goals left before the comeback!

The break flew by unnoticed, and the hosts returned to the field with the desire to continue the scoring extravaganza. Five minutes pass and the Camp Nou literally explodes with delight - their favorites score the third! And it was like this: Barcelona’s next attack developed on the left flank, where Neymar threw the ball into the penalty area on his own move. At this moment, Meunier stumbles and Neymar clings to him. At first, the main referee of the match showed the Brazilian “get up”, but after consulting with the referee behind the goal, he pointed to the “spot”. Messi takes the penalty superbly - 3:0. There's only one goal left until a miracle!

The guests are well aware of the complexity of the situation and are trying to become more active. In the 52nd minute, PSG manages a great counterattack, during which Meunier crosses into the penalty area, but Cavani hits the post. Lucky Catalans!

Di Maria immediately enters the field. Emery feels everything. The Argentinean's appearance invigorated the Parisians and soon they caught Barca in a counterattack. From the set piece the ball was thrown to Kurzawa, who from outside the penalty area makes a pass at the lonely Cavani. Edinson shoots from 10 meters under the crossbar - 3:1. There is an important away goal! The home team needs to score three more!

The Catalans just go blank for a while and don’t know what to do on the field. There was one ball left until happiness! Luis Enrique takes Iniesta out of the game, and in the next substitution he brings on Roberto. Maybe he knew something?

Meanwhile, the minutes were inexorably melting away, Barca could not manage to score at least the fourth, not to mention other goals. Moreover, in one of the rare attacks by the Parisians, Cavani runs away one on one - Ter Stegen miraculously saves the hosts from complete collapse by sticking out his leg.

In the 87th minute, Neymar earns a free kick to the left of the goal and decides to take it himself. The Brazilian hits perfectly, the ball touches the bar and flies into the near corner - 4:1. There are still two goals left and 5-6 minutes to play. "Camp Nou" roars! "Barcelona" with the whole team goes on the attack.

Another throw into the PSG penalty area and in the fight with Marquinhos, Luis Suarez ends up on the turf. The referee decides to give the Catalans a second penalty. Neymar carries out the penalty and makes it 5:1. Addition time has begun, and only five minutes to play.

And here is the final assault! Even the Catalan goalkeeper goes into the Parisian penalty area. It was there that Veratti violated the rules not far from the center circle and a minute and a half before the end of the match, Barca earned a free kick. There is a cross into the penalty area and Sergi Roberto jumps out of the pile of players, throwing his foot forward and managing to send the ball into the goal - 6:1. This is something incredible! There is a record of all records!

As soon as the Parisians leave the center, the final whistle sounds. Barcelona are in the quarterfinals! PSG is missing out on a fantastic head start! A historic match for many generations to come!

Barcelona - PSG - 6:1

Goals: Luis Suarez, 3 - 1:0. Kurzawa, 40, own goal - 2:0. Messi, 50, from the penalty spot - 3:0. Cavani, 62 - 3:1. Neymar, 88 - 4:1. Neymar, 90+1, from the penalty spot - 5:1. Roberto, 90+5 - 6:1.

"Barcelona" : ter Stegen, Umtiti, Pique, Mascherano, Busquets, Iniesta (Turan 65), Rakitic (Gomes 84), Rafinha (Roberto 76), Messi, L. Suarez, Neymar.

PSG: Trapp, Meunier (Krychowiak 90+3), Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Curzawa, Matuidi, Rabiot, Veratti, Lucas (Di Maria 55), Cavani, Draxler (Aurier 75).

Soccer.ru was upset when Barcelona conceded from Cavani, because the Catalans deserved a comeback. But the incredible happened - congratulations to Enrique and the team!

Cheek brings success?

Thanks to Barcelona for our happy childhood? And thanks for the action too. Before the match, the question stuck in my head: what can I say to the players in Enrique’s place? For some reason, the setup from my thoughts turned out to be simple: “I’m leaving, but you are staying. And they (fans) stay with you. Play for yourself and for them. You know what to do". And the Catalans knew, as it turned out. Barcelona were terrible in the first match. But what they did to themselves in a couple of weeks is incomprehensible.. They say that Suvorov spoke about courage and cities before the storming of Izyum. The zest has returned to the Catalans' game, and although football is better than war in every way, sometimes it is very similar.

This is, first of all, Barcelona’s victory over itself. And a lesson to everyone who is in a hurry to place bets - although it was not a sin not to believe. For the forecasters, Tuesday's winners Bayern and Real Madrid were the main favorites of the tournament, but the Parisians took third place. Before the match. Now they are experiencing the main shame in the history of the Champions League and the club. Although remember that PSG was praised not even because of the first game, even if the 4:0 advantage struck the imagination of a viewer unprepared for such failures of the Catalans. It was a matter of the moral defeat of Barcelona itself. This was their rock bottom. But away from home, PSG became so insolent that the Catalan skating rink razed them to the ground. And he deservedly endured it. He took it out, starting from the first minute of the match. And he ended with a comeback celebration of the century in stoppage time.

Did the scheme help Barcelona?

New scheme – new horizons. And let just one more “expert” say that tactics are not the key in football. If Barcelona didn’t have three defenders and actually play with four forwards, they wouldn’t have been able to see anything from this festival of madness. When Mascherano plays left inside, when Neymar and Rafinha stretch the PSG defense so that Suarez can conveniently fall in the penalty area - we know, we saw, we know that he was faking, but this does not negate the many interesting details that Luis Enrique really worked with.

Starting with three defenders, like the Rostov of the present or Juventus of the past, and ending with two forwards, which is also rarely seen among the Catalans. And Rakitic was on the field, thank the football gods. Enrique was so unconvincing in Paris that he was so well prepared for the meeting with Emery in the return match. His colleague failed the match, now he will be fired from PSG - they cannot survive such shame. But the opponent's weaknesses do not detract from Barcelona's achievement. Outplayed a strong enemy outplayed cleanly and thanks to the “3-1-2-4” scheme, unusual for ourselves and football in the twenty-first century in general.

Does the feat cancel the “plushness”?

No, nothing that experts or Barcelona fans themselves have said about the team and Enrique’s work should be forgotten or written off thanks to one great match. This would be unfair to the Catalans themselves. They don't deserve any favors, they're too strong for them. AND It is dangerous for a team’s prospects in the Champions League to overestimate one match, because Barcelona morally deserved to reach the final today, but have not yet made it there. They can't forget what Ter Stegen will bring if given the opportunity. That Sergi Roberto is better in attack than in defense. That Iniesta is a superstar, but the emphasis on the second part of the word fades away from the great modest man physically.

We also need to remember what was said more than once during this season. What Neymar will become best player“Barcelona” and the world, if Messi becomes more important in such matches. If he takes away free kicks and penalties from Lionel, and his teammate voluntarily gives in, he will see that the Brazilian is ready to surprise the world. The Catalans should not forget the lesson of PSG itself. They cannot ignore the facts. This season, Luis Enrique has worked to leave and look for a new challenge in the Premier League, as Barcelona needs to be this unusual all the time, and not just against PSG. But we can congratulate Enrique's successor - he will get a team with a big heart. And with problems that can be solved if desired.

Barcelona bet on individuals?

Yes and no. After all the team won in the end, you can’t blame anyone for being unprepared. That's why Umtiti's actions are less important than Neymar's work? Nothing, if there had been more mistakes in defense, no goal would have saved us. Although anyone after the match at the Camp Nou, if Enrique’s team were relegated, would say - it’s a pity for the Catalans. Even Real Madrid fans had to admit this. The Catalans worked for a full-fledged comeback, for a 4:0 or even 5:0 victory. That would be fairer than 3:1 and relegation. And justice triumphed in a wild way, because the score 6:1 was hard to imagine.

Have PSG and Barcelona swapped roles?

Just like in the old films, in the first match the Spaniards were not like themselves, in the second the French were. Change of bodies, PSG and Barcelona actually exchanged class victories. In the first match, the Catalans were declassed - promising Parisian players emphasized all the opponent's disadvantages, just like in a textbook. They tore off the attacking three, didn’t notice the pressure from the right back, destroyed the support zone, and took advantage of Iniesta’s age. But in the return match, Andres’ age was almost unnoticeable, Busquets appeared in the supporting zone, the formation with three central ones justified itself, as did the wide attack.

Luis Enrique announced his departure on time - the team relaxed and played for themselves and for those who remain with the club, for the fans. PSG were terrible in Spain. And it’s bad for the French that even in France they are not the best club of the season. Monaco is more fun in attack - the wildest attack line in Europe, as we know. It turns out that PSG and Barcelona are teams of similar structure. It's just that Emery doesn't have the same front three as Enrique? Almost so, the goalkeepers are not the best, and there are problems in the defense, both in the supporting zone and with the flank defenders, you can ask. PSG has plenty of gaming problems. But the experience is different. Barcelona in the second half, after the third goal, resembled an army of robots of the future - there are no people with such endurance.

Readers' opinions. Does Barcelona now deserve to win the Champions League?

Again, if PSG taught us anything, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. But we are talking about moral merit. And this is the case when the sympathies of people without club attachments to other Champions League favorites will be on the side of Barcelona. They deserved a standing ovation around the world. Such matches are the result of a colossal concentration of moral and physical strength. Such matches - great story football. Yes, Suarez was faking his penalty. This is obvious to everyone, I felt the defender’s hand and drew a foul, we have known Luis for a long time. Of course, PSG could have started playing in the first half, and not set themselves up. Of course, such a comeback is impossible without an indifferent opponent. But every case in football is unique. AND everything that can be said against Barcelona doesn't matter at all now.

We deservedly advanced further, and the difficulty of the task is comparable to the task of Liverpool in Istanbul. Like Milan then, PSG underestimated Barcelona in the most brazen way, for which they were punished. The skill played, the pressure worked, without it six goals for a team of such a level as PSG would not be possible. Bravo, Catalans! Does it make sense to give the Champions Cup to Barcelona right now? There is such an impulse. Sorry, fans of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Atlético Madrid and others, but such a celebration of football excellence is rare to see. Not so much high level Only a team that defeated itself to begin with can win back from 0:4. Luis Enrique's nerves were burned by his players. But his timely samurai hara-kiri was rewarded from above. Today this coach saved his career at another club. And he gave Barcelona and all of us a fairy tale. This match will never be forgotten. This is what team spirit means, this is why we love football!

Probably the most anticipated of the return matches of the 1/8 finals of the Champions League among neutral fans was the match at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona hosted PSG. Everyone was worried about one question: will the Catalans be able to snatch a ticket to the quarterfinals after a devastating away defeat with a score of 0:4. Many people believed in the reality of this. More than 40 percent of active users of the Euro-Futbol.ru portal believed that Barcelona would be able to make a comeback. And they turned out to be right, although even they were sure in the 87th minute that the Parisians would be in the quarterfinals.

Game protocol

Luis Enrique decided not to trust the traditional Barcelona 4-3-3 formation, deciding to play three central defenders, saturating the center of the field as much as possible, realizing that in order to score 6 goals, as the Barcelona entrenador himself wanted, it would be desirable part with the ball as little as possible.

Unai Emery has released a fairly predictable squad. The only problem was with Di Maria, who had just recovered from an injury and apparently did not have time to reach optimal condition, so the Parisian coach decided to leave the Argentine, who became the main character of the match at the Parc des Princes, on the bench.

It was important for the Parisians not to miss an early goal at Camp Nou. After all, it was clear to everyone that the Catalans would attack from the first seconds. But at the same time, the French team chose a strange tactical scheme, squeezing almost the entire team into their third of the field, rather than trying to deprive the opponent of the ball. Having gained space, Barcelona gained confidence, and the PSG players, finding themselves under intense pressure, were noticeably nervous. This is what provoked the home team's early goal - Rafinha crossed from the right edge towards the line of the goalkeeper's area, where two visiting defenders failed to clear the ball, after which Suarez, ahead of Trapp, opened the scoring in the match.

The Parisians managed not to be knocked down after such a rapid start. Emery's team picked up the pace, trying to even out the game, moving it away from their goal. But still, Barcelona continued to have the initiative, while PSG limited itself to rare counterattacks. Javier Mascherano almost scored the first goal in a “blue garnet” shirt in such an important match, but his rebound shot from outside the penalty area turned out to be slightly inaccurate. And after that, a very controversial episode occurred - after Draxler’s cross from the left edge, the ball hit the hand of Mascherano, who was lying in a tackle, and went beyond the baseline. However, the German referee Deniz Aytekin was either afraid to point to the point, or interpreted the episode as “a hand in natural situation“, or he simply didn’t want to kill the intrigue - in any case, only a corner was awarded.

And Barcelona decided to get seriously interested in long-range shots. Thus, Messi and Neymar scored dangerous attempts, but each of the forwards lacked some centimeters to score. Suarez tried to take a double from mid-range, but he did not have the opportunity to put his body down to shoot tightly, so Trapp easily dealt with the threat. The Catalans earned a lot of standards not far from other people's possessions, to which Pique and Umititi, who played excellent headers, connected. PSG held on, but shortly before the end of the first half they conceded a goal, or rather scored themselves - Marquinhos failed to cover the ball with his body from Iniesta, Andres, from a difficult position, managed to heel the ball along the goal, and Kurzawa, trying to clear the ball, cut off the game ball into your own gate.

At the end of the first, Barcelona staged a real assault on the opponent's possessions, forcing the Parisians to play on the rebound, but the guests survived, after which they received a 15-minute break in order to calm down and think about further actions. From the start of the second half, Unai Emery's team tried to play first and carried out a couple of sharp attacks, but the Blaugrana's first response was effective. In the struggle for the ball, Menier tripped and fell right in the path of Neymar - the Brazilian could have avoided contact, but he fell beautifully. Aytekin was not impressed by this fall, but his assistant, who was behind the goal, convinced the chief referee to change his mind and award a penalty, which was clearly converted by Messi.

Almost immediately after this, the Parisians could have nullified most of the Catalans' efforts - after Meunier's cross from the right flank along the goal, Cavani, playing ahead, shot in the opposite direction to Ter Stegen, but the ball hit the post and went out of bounds. Barcelona continued to press in the opposing half of the field, but at the end of an hour of playing time, PSG still scored: Draxler earned a free kick in the middle of the field. The set piece was followed by a throw to the left edge of the penalty area, where Kurzawa won the fight in the air and dropped the ball into the center to Cavani, who immediately fired under the crossbar.

“Barcelona” tried not to give up and continued to move forward, but still the former fire in the blue-garnet hearts died out, and the Catalans moved forward more by inertia - it seemed that with the missed goal, the Barca players themselves believed that they could save the game unreal. The match was calmly coming to an end, until at the end of the match Neymar scored a superb free kick into the top corner. Literally right there, Suarez earned a penalty for Barcelona, ​​which was converted by the same Neymar.

The fan at his worst is a unique social phenomenon. Social group, in which limited and one-sided thinking is an encouraged line of behavior.

They are all God's dew. A penalty on Di Maria when the score is 3:1, the probable removal of Mascherano for a foul and Suarez for simulation - they will justify everything. “Yes, but it was dynamic, and the referee worked perfectly and the first penalty was clean, everything was decided on the field, and in general the result is fair and PSG did not deserve to pass.”

But they don't say "fair". They use double negatives. Blue thieves.

A unique match - a monument to dishonor, for which no one is ashamed.

The first penalty is straight out of a low-grade joke. Menier hit Neymar's leg with his face. Imagine? he knocked down the speeding athlete with the back of his head.

What would have happened if there had been any tangible touch there? Concussion. On the leg - at worst, a bruise. This is the shin. It breaks young trees.

It turns out like in American action movies: an ordinary superman is kicked (in my childhood this was called the word “knocked”) by several mugs, and he knocks them out with his head. And the audience believes.

This is written for them: “Do not repeat at home.” For those gullible people who will remember and in reality will jump with their backs on the ground to fight with their heads.

Don't say there aren't any. Re-read the comments under the threads about the match. On any site. Do you see how many of them are gullible?..

For a couple of months, the Barça bosses asked the great Signori to work with the team on taking penalties. Judging by the first penalty kick, Messi heeded the Italian's advice. Judging by the fall of Neymar, Inzaghi came to the capital of Catalonia with Giuseppe.

There is no shame in the judge in this situation. The touch was what to take from it. 50-60 percent is a penalty. One of those called “at discretion”. And the referee yesterday saw only one way.

I'm not even ashamed of Neymar. The touch was what to take from it. He is a Brazilian who plays in Spain. In the penalty area he falls intuitively; he has it in his subconscious. Neymar was generally one of two people on the field who played with his mind. The second, of course, was not Messi.

And there’s almost no shame in Suarez. Except for the quality of artistry. He, like Neymar, is easy to understand. It's in Louis's nature. Check out what Mason Cooley had to say about this.

It's a shame for this whole match. Entirely. Not for personalities. And there is no one to justify. Today is such an unusual day.

Diving does not justify the judge's mistakes. The referee's mistakes do not justify PSG's cowardice. The cowardice of the Parisians does not justify Barcelona's passage. The Catalans' comeback does not justify those who call the passage deserved.

“Yes, but it was dynamic, and the referee worked perfectly and the first penalty was clean, everything was decided on the field, and in general the result is fair and PSG did not deserve to pass.”

Did Barcelona deserve it? Why does shame always have intercessors?

PSG lost because they chickened out. You can't play like that against Barcelona. This is Nou Camp. Here it’s either pan or fall. Fear is a luxury in such fights.

PSG were eliminated because the referees interfered. Because instead of a penalty and sending off, he received two penalty kicks into his own goal.

But the question is: where is Barcelona then? Paris lost to itself, flew by - to the judges. Where is the team that can do everything? The team whose greatness and capabilities we have been singing about for three weeks and will continue to sing about for a long time to come?

Yes, here she is. It was Barcelona that failed to knock out even the cowardly and condemned PSG from the tournament. It was Barcelona, ​​the team with the best attack in the world, who made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to the judges.

Well, isn't this a miracle?

The most outstanding comeback in the history of world football. This is perhaps how we can characterize what Barcelona did in the match against Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the 1/8 finals of the 2016-2017 Champions League.

Will there ever be anything like this? Perhaps not. In the meantime, let's remember the details of that amazing evening.

Barcelona - PSG 6:1

• Date: March 8, 2017.
• Stadium: Camp Nou.
• Number of viewers: 96920.
• Judge: Deniz Aytekin (Germany).

Pre-start layouts

The first match in Paris ended with a major victory for PSG 4:0 and the outcome of the two-game confrontation seemed to be beyond doubt - never before in the more than 60-year history of European competitions has such a handicap been won back.

What about European Cups? I think in the history of football in general. No, maybe in some amateur league or in the Honduran Cup something similar happened, but about such miracles on serious level I didn't have to hear it.

Therefore, the words spoken before the match:

“If someone can score four goals against us, then we can score six against him,”

seemed like ordinary bravado. And who would have thought that they would turn out to be prophetic.

Team compositions

The teams' losses could hardly be called irreparable. For the Catalans, Jeremy Mathieu and Ales Vidal were unable to take the field, and for the Parisians, Thiago Motta.

• Luis Enrique fielded the following line-up: Ter Stegen, Pique – Mascherano – Umite, Butskes – Iniesta – Rakitic, Messi, Suarez – Neymar – Rafinha.

Graphically, Barcelona's formation could be depicted as a 3-3-1-3 with Lionel Messi in the "under striker" position. Of course, any scheme is rather arbitrary, but it is a fact that Barça entered the field with six attacking players.

• PSG squad: Trapp, Thiago Silva - Kurzawa - Marquinhos - Meunier, Rabiot - Matiudi, Draxler - Verratti - Lucas Moura, Cavani.

It was clear that Unai Emery was being cautious - Angel di Maria remained on the bench.

Match

The match itself can be roughly divided into four segments. The first is the starting half of the meeting. Barcelona completed the minimum task, scoring two goals, and did it at the optimal time for itself - in the opening of the match and immediately before the break. The first goal was scored by Luis Suarez, the second was cut into his own goal by Kurzawa after a brilliant backheel pass from Andreas Iniesta.

The second period began immediately after the break - Messi took the penalty awarded for Manier's foul against Neymar. About the judges' decisions - a little lower, for now we'll just state the facts.

The third period can be conditionally called “PSG time”. Unai Emery, feeling that he no longer just smells, but frankly stinks of something fried, throws Angel di Maria into battle. And soon the Parisians score a goal - Edison Cavani shoots irresistibly after a discount from Layvin Kurzawa, who is redeemed for an own goal.

After some time, Ter Stegen eliminates Cavani's one-on-one exit, and a similar exit by Di Maria is interrupted by his compatriot Javier Mascherano.

Well, the final segment can hardly be called anything other than fantastic. In the 88th minute, Neymar scores with a magnificent free kick, two minutes later he converts a penalty, and in the 6th added minute, Sergi Roberto, who replaced Sergi Roberto, sends the sixth ball into the PSG net!

Analyzing what happened, you can’t help but think, how could this even happen? After all, Paris Saint-Germain is far from a brewery team. Of course, it’s good to be clever in hindsight, but you couldn’t play like that against Barcelona. PSG came to lose with the score they needed, and were punished for it.

On the other hand: how should Emery have played after winning 4:0? I’ll say right away that I don’t know and I don’t undertake to judge the Spanish specialist.

Controversial decisions of the arbitrator

And finally, about refereeing. Actually, we are talking about three decisions of the referee - the awarding of two penalties against the Parisians and Mascherano's tackle on Di Maria.

Let's start with a penalty, after which the score became 3:0 in favor of Barcelona. Neymar bursts into the penalty area, Parisian defender Meunier loses his balance, falls, catches Neymar with his head, causing him to end up on the lawn. It seems like an obvious penalty, since contact actually took place.

But don't rush to conclusions. Experts' opinions were divided. The fact is that in the interpretation of football rules there is the concept of “an episode that does not depend on the player.” This is exactly the case when there was no intent and negligence or recklessness in the actions of the defender.

Episode two: with the score 3:1, Di Maria runs away one on one with the Catalan goalkeeper, enters the penalty area, at the moment Javier Mascherano catches his supporting leg in a tackle without touching the ball. An undisputed penalty and a straight red card because there was a deprivation of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

And finally, a penalty on Luis Suarez. He wasn't there. At all. Apparently this was Barcelona’s reward for their boundless self-confidence, perseverance and desire to win.

So the assessment of this incredible victory cannot be unambiguous. Although in five years they will already forget about refereeing, but the result of the match will remain forever. And it will clearly be remembered for decades.