The 2017 duel will be hard to beat, but before and after PSG-Barcelona were in the BL, and there was never a time to get bored, and it won’t be any different now.
Recalling the past
Looking back on the duels between the Parisians and the Catalans, it would be surprising if someone did not immediately jump to that particular historical translation, but it is also worth highlighting how the most recent three straight relegation clashes showed different images, now let’s recall them a little, the “best by the end” principle, not mentioned in chronological order.
Real-City and PSG-Barca will hold quarter-finals in the BL
It can be a German or Spanish home final, but certainly not an English one.
2015 was the year of Barca
The last time Barcelona fans could rejoice at their team’s CL victory was in 2015, when Messi beat Juventus in Berlin. On the way to the German capital, the team had to get past the Parisians in the quarter-finals, and it would be an exaggeration to say that they only managed to do so with gritted teeth.
In the first match in the French capital, the Catalans won 3-1, but the return match also brought a smooth, 2-0 victory thanks to Neymar’s double, the only goal they conceded was attributable to Mathieu’s unfortunate movement throughout the match.
This is how Barcelona’s CL victory was celebrated – photo: EPA/Paul Zinken
There was no question during their last meeting either
However, in 2021, Paris already celebrated, especially in the second leg, when Kylian Mbappé’s triple helped PSG knock out the home team at the Camp Nou, and this time there was no countermeasure, even though Messi scored a huge goal in the second leg, it was only a 1-1 was enough for a draw.
This match also boasts very defining elements in the history of football, for example, it was the Argentinian’s last BL match for his parent club, in the summer of 2021 he transferred to the opposing team Paris, yet we don’t talk about it nearly as much as the miracle of 2017.
Mauricio Pochettino consoles Lionel Messi after the PSG-Barcelona CL quarter-final (Photo: EPA/Yoan Valat)
La Remontada – people celebrated sport, not Barcelona
If a football match has a name, it cannot be a coincidence, and it is no different with Remontada. The word could be most accurately translated into Hungarian as return: it would have been difficult for anyone to find a more apt name for what happened that night.
A four-goal deficit in the first leg, an early lead in the second leg, an own goal, a penalty, then collapse after conceding a goal, and then the last 10 minutes, which makes one only envy those who were at the Camp Nou that night.
Barcelona, March 9, 2017. Barcelona players celebrate after beating Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 (MTI/EPA/Quique Garcia)
From M4 Sport David Székelywas given this experience, the director of the channel was the commentator of this match, and as part of the preview, we asked him what memories he had of one of the greatest translations in history.
“Camp Nou is such an iconic venue that there are very few in football, any time you got there it was special, but here you didn’t necessarily prepare for the translation to be realistic after 4-0, but still in your head in addition to Barcelona’s improvement in form between the two games, he was also involved in what if..” Dávid Székely began the recollection.
“It was Úskáos from the beginning of the match, and the early goal only added to that, but the most memorable moment was obviously the last goal. I don’t know how many commentators and journalists were in the part where I was, but it must have been more than 100-150. No one remained seated. Not because of Barcelona advancing, but it was simply a huge experience for everyone, because they/we saw something that had never been seen before in history.”
“The most fantastic thing about it all was that you knew it would follow you for the rest of your life. I said at the time that this was the biggest translation in history, and since then, of course, there have been translations in sports, but I don’t know if a game with such high stakes could ever produce something bigger than what it was. There are few sporting events that I am so happy to have been there. Here, people didn’t celebrate Barcelona, they celebrated sport” – concluded the channel director’s experience report.
Protagonists at both clubs
Lionel Messi his story may not need to be introduced to anyone. The eight-time Ballon d’Or player was forced to leave his dream club in the summer of 2021, and found home in Paris.
Although the legend probably achieved his greatest success in this period, this can be attributed to the national team that won the Copa América and the World Cup, he did not make a lasting impression at PSG, of course the wording is relative, his forgettable season could be the peak of someone else’s career, the double standard was seriously present in the few years spent between Barcelona and Miami.
On top of the world for the eighth time: Messi won the 2023 GOLD LAD8D
Bellingham became the best youngster, and the women’s Ballon d’Or went to Aitana Bonmatí.
Neymar In 2017, he moved from Spain to neighboring France for a record-breaking amount, but in retrospect, his stay there was not a success story either.
The Brazilian winger wanted to step out of Messi’s shadow, but he didn’t expect to fall straight into Mbappé’s, and the role of permanent second fiddle meant an early termination of his career with another Brazilian. In his early 30s, he would have fooled his defenders in the Saudi league, provided he wasn’t permanently injured. . So that I can live with the same headline as the media of your country during the transfer:
“The prince who never became king.”
Ousmane Dembélé just one of the big wastes of the money received from the Neymar transfer on the part of Barcelona, who then joined the best team of his country in 2023 for roughly 100 million euros cheaper.
The lightning-quick player’s career was mostly characterized by injuries, so it would be a bit unfair to blame everything on him, but his attitude towards sports is highly questionable, as a result of which he has been in trouble several times.
Ousmane Dembélé is Kylian Mbappé. EPA/Javier Etxezarreta
Xavi had a good influence on him, but Barcelona’s game did not favor Dembélé either, so the change was logical, and even though the goals are not coming at PSG, Luis Enrique is still a very useful player in terms of the current duel.
For that Luis Enriquenekwho won the Champions League trophy with his team in his first season as a manager in Barcelona – interestingly, this was also the last year of the other side’s head coach, Xavi, as a Catalan player.
However, Enrique’s focus is now on PSG, with whom, by the way, he thinks similarly in many aspects of the game as he did with Barcelona in 2015, perhaps he could have thought of this in one of the interviews before the match, when he said that he thought he played the “Barca way” better than now Xavi.
The false nine or the movable ten are a recurring element, but the game based on the run-ups of the full-backs or the formation of midfield triangulations were also typical of Barcelona in 2015, as well as of the current PSG, the difference may be that while at the Catalan club this Enrique strictly always tried to implement it with the 4-3-3 lineup, while in Paris, in addition to the 4-3-3, this season he already tried the 4-2-2-2, the 3-5-3 and also with 4–1–4–1.
Source: footballuser.com
Against Barcelona, despite all this, it would be surprising if they did not enter the field with the most proven formation, because PSG can create several advantages this way: Mbappé, who is likely to be the main character in the duel this time as well, can stay on the sidelines with a defender several times – probably With Koundé or Araujo – beating them, the path to Ter Stegen can be cleared – according to press reports, the Frenchman’s excellence, which is practically the same as Real Madrid, would bring serious excitement to the match and the duel in itself.
In addition, even though Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen and Pedri have been named in the Barcelona midfield, it is impossible for them to play the whole match, so the French could have a quality main character against the possible trio of Romeu-Fermín-Gündogan, not to mention if you are Dembélé the aforementioned Mbappé is in the middle.
On the other hand, Barcelona can establish a serious advantage on the wings, at least in the first match, since Hakimi will not be on the Parc Des Princes turf due to a suspension, so Yamal or Raphinha will face a secondary solution in the match, and with Cancelo’s wing runs, this could be even more serious. pressure that PSG must solve.
PSG could be “Spanish champions”, Xavi could have his last match in the Champions League final
You don’t have to take the suggestion made in the subtitle seriously, but you can play with the idea, because it’s not often that something that PSG can bring to the end has happened.
The home of Paris leads the championship with 10 points, so the team from the capital will probably be the king of France this year, but looking at the BL, it may also have a chance for the Spanish throne. The team easily knocked out Real Sociedad in the round of 16, Barcelona is now the opponent in the quarter-finals, there is absolutely no chance that Atlético will come in the semi-finals, and in the London final Real Madrid could come, which was almost able to do the same in 2022, then the only blemish in the chain of English teams was PSG.
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Thibaut Courtois piled parade after parade.
Looking ahead can also be interesting from the point of view of Barcelona, because we already learned that Xavi will leave the garnet-red-blues at the end of the season, but based on his form at the time, we did not think that Barcelona could hope to bid him farewell after a Champions League final. may take place, but after the draw, his chances have increased considerably due to the improvement of the opponents and Barca’s play.
We will find out in a week’s time which club will be closer to the mentioned goal(s), but it will be worth turning on the televisions on April 10, because the last time the two teams played a bad game was not so long ago. Paris Saint-Germain – Barcelona live on M4 Sport and m4sport.hu from 9 p.m. on Wednesday.
The program of the BL quarter-finals:
on Tuesday:
Real Madrid – Manchester City 3-3 (2-1)
Arsenal – Bayern Munich 2-2 (1-2)
on Wednesday:
21.00: Paris Saint-Germain – Barcelona – M4 Sport
21.00: Atlético Madrid – Borussia Dortmund– long summary from 23:15 on M4 Sport
rematches:
April 16, 9 p.m.: Barcelona – Paris Saint-Germain
April 16, 9 p.m.: Borussia Dortmund – Atlético Madrid
April 17, 9 p.m.: Bayern Munich – Arsenal
April 17, 9 p.m.: Manchester City – Real Madrid