At the Olympic stadium in Monjuic,
So, where is the comeback? ! Apathetic for half an hour, PSG finally took advantage of Araujo’s expulsion to completely reverse this quarter-final second leg of the Champions League and land an unexpected ticket to the semi-final. Opposed to Dortmund in the next round, the Parisians have all the cards in hand to write a magnificent page in their history in C1.
The red that stains
Seeing Luis Enrique’s crazy space race, leaving his technical area and going behind Xavi’s back to join his players at the edge of the pitch and give them instructions, we understood that the evening had just turned to Montjuic Olympic Stadium. A few seconds earlier, after an illicit collision in the position of last defender on Barcola, Araujo gave his body to the homeland and collected a direct ticket for the shower. Eleven against ten for more than an hour, PSG had just, on Spanish soil, in the Champions League, seen a referee change (REGULARLY) the course of its destiny in its favor. Take that Aytekin.
And to hear the silence which took over the stadium, sure that the Catalan public, boiling until then, had also understood that their team was going to suffer, after a perfect start to the match and Raphina’s quick opening score. He will realize it all the more as Dembélé, whistled at each of his ball catches, he, the traitor to the institution, unleashed a round of madness under the bar of Ter Stegen. He even came close to scoring again just before the break, but his volley narrowly missed the target. No matter, the momentum was with Paris (for once).
Paris on mission
The proof, upon returning from the locker room, is a transfigured Parisian team, the knife between the ratchets, far from the apathetic one, which had made us scream with rage in the first thirty minutes, which returned to the pitch. Rushing to the attack, Fabian Ruiz was a hair away from air-conditioning the stadium with a caliente cross shot, but the light came from a little man of 1.72 m named Vitinha, or The Mona Lisa, we no longer know .
Already a scorer in the first leg, the Portuguese put Paris on the path to the feat with a perfect shot at the entrance to the Barcelona area (1-2, 54th). By falling behind so early in the second half, it is therefore impossible to imagine the old Parisian demons resurfacing. Especially since on the other side, Barça was nothing but excitement and calves fluttering in the wind, like their coach, Xavi, expelled from his bench by the referee.
Mbappé as executioner
But for this match to definitively descend into madness, the hardest part still had to be done: nailing Barcelona’s coffin with blows. And for that, who better than the future Madrid undertaker Kylian Mbappé? It will be done on peno, after a nasty mistake by Cancelo on Ousmane Dembélé, in all the good moves on Tuesday evening. The Parisian number 7 did not tremble and, with a powerful cross shot, sent PSG to the moon and Barça underground.
Despite Barcelona’s vain attempts at the end of the match (and thanks to crazy saves from Marquinhos and Donnarumma), Paris could not miss their chance. As a symbol, Mbappé will finish off Barça for good with a sneaky goal at the very end of the match to write what can now become the most beautiful page in the club’s history in the Champions League.