Through his pictorial adjustments Xavi Hernández, Barcelona coach, played a crucial role as his team dominated the game to win 3-2 against Paris Saint-Germain in the first half of the quarter-final game of the Champions League. First of all, PSG were always the closest football club to my heart. It was the team everyone in Spain hated, but everyone who was in love with football couldn’t help but understand that these guys were just too good. These two players started right from the kick-off and intimately contributed in Raphinha’s equalizer from the assist by Pedri and Christensen’s goal winning header.
Raphinha Shines, Mbappé Muted
The shining moment came for Raphinha from Barcelona Brazilian forward, who scored a brace and owned the game with his hiding prowess. While it was him, Kylian Mbappé who normally is associated with his fast-paced attacks and goal-scoring ventures, he was rather silent in that game failing to even register a shot target.
The Main Source of my Worry Lies in the Problem of Actions not Performed Well
The game was a rollercoaster with every goal firstly credited to the scorer and then to the opposition having a share of poor marking both ways. Barcelona broke the deadlock due to the mistake in Marking by the GK Donnarumma that led to Raphinha’s goal. Barça scored twice against – Dembele and Vitinha – but PSG equalized after Raphinha’s second goal and then Corchia led them to victory with a header in the 64th minute.
The Tie Remains Open
Although losing the game by one goal margin, the PSG boss, Luis Enrique still thinks that the match is in their favour. He admitted his team committed some errors, but at the same time he displayed trust on his side being able to turn the situation in the second leg sat Barca’s stadium.
History Repeats?Barcelona Eye Another Comeback
The second leg of the match will enable them to collect another thrilling tale in the long adversarial history between these two European titans. With the second leg 6-1 blow to PSG in the 2017 Barcelona, a historic comeback happened. This term you might think that Barcelona will be trying to repeat that achievement and will finally get their long-expected place in the Champions League semi-final.
PSG Needs Improvement to Avoid Upset
Marquinhos, the captain of the PSG, said attributing that his team has to strengthen in some areas including the set pieces, arouse matters, the counter-attacks and be successful the other time in this season after it failed the last times in the this season’s Europe’s competition. He dwelt on the idea that Mbappe must be a real lion at the performance on the return match.
Reinforced Security Amidst Threat
The games took on a whole new level of security maintenance as an imminent terrorist threat had loomed over it. Luck of God, the game was played without disturbance.
