What a week it has been for soccer as the Champions League final round of group fixtures kicked off yesterday, with 11 teams having qualified for the knockout stage already. Barcelona and Paris St. Germain served up an entertaining match as both teams tussled for first place in their group.
Former Barcelona player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, returned to the Camp Nou, where he enjoyed a 2-season spell that yielded the UEFA Super Cup, a Spanish Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and two La Liga titles. Ibrahimovic had 29 appearances for Barca and scored 16 goals during that time. Another former Barcelona player, namely the Brazilian defender Maxwell, made his return to the fabulous Camp Nou, where he spent three years with Barcelona. It was a great match in which Barcelona beat PSG with a final score of 3-1 .
Barcelona struggled a lot in the defense, where manager Luis Enrique started Jeremy Mathieu as the left wing-back instead of Jordi Alba. Mathieu clearly felt uncomfortable in that position. Gerard Pique and Marc Bartra were in the dead center, and Pedro took the right wing-back spot, a position he has not usually played in. Luis Enrique left Ivan Rakitic on the bench as well, and many people questioned this decision as Rakitic has been in great form lately.
The big three starting up front were Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez, and they all scored in this match, with Messi and Neymar scoring in the first half and Suarez adding another in the second half. It was PSG who opened up the scoring in the 15th minute. Lucas took on Mathieu, then found Blaise Matuidi, who was being defended by Bartra. Matuidi found Ibrahimovic wide open, and his left-footed shot went in the bottom right of Marc-André ter Stegen’s net.
Not four minutes later, the Catalans tied the game up when Messi, who has been on a great run, found the net. Javier Mascherano crossed the ball from midfield to Suarez, who was able to get a one-touch pass to the other side of the net, and Messi found the ball and was able to get it past David Luiz and Salvatore Sirigu to equalize the game.
Edinson Cavani had a chance to give PSG the lead in the 30th minute, when Ibrahimovic passed him the ball from the right side of the field, and Cavani went straight for goal with his right foot. ter Stegen was there to save Barca from being down 2-1. Suarez also had a chance to give Barca the 2-1 lead in the 38th minute. After some beautiful tiki-taka play in which Messi was able to cap off a move involving Neymar, Andres Iniesta, and Suarez, Messi had an open shot but Sirigu was there to block the goal and save his team.
However, it was 3 minutes later that we saw Neymar put Barcelona in the lead. He took on five defenders from the middle of the field and with his right foot, curved the ball into the bottom right corner of PSG’s goalkeeper net.
With the ref blowing the whistle, the first half ended with Barcelona in a 2-1 lead over Les Parisiens.
The second half kicked off and right away there was a lot of action from both sides. Pedro had a chance to give Barcelona a 3-1 lead after Messi found him open in the right side who was all alone, but his chip was too much and the ball go over the net. Shortly after that, Lucas took on Mathieu, Pique and Busquets on the right side of the field and tried to get the ball under ter Stegen’s legs, but ter Stegen blocked it and Bartra then blocked both Cavani’s and Matuidi’s attempts on the rebound.
Javier Pastore came in the 62nd minute for Marco Verratti who played the in the last match against Barcelona back in September and was a great help for the team. In the 67th minute, Barcelona put on Rakitiç for Pedro. Rakitic’s benching was a surprise and when he came on, he got a great ovation from the fans. With this change, Bartra took the right wing of the defense with Mascherano moved to the center back along with Pique and this seemed to help the defense a bit more. In the 72nd minute, Iniesta came off and we saw Xavi Hernandez come in to help Barcelona hold the lead or create something more. A minute later, Ezequiel Lavezzi came in for Matuidi, who struggled throughout the match, though he did record an assist when Ibrahimovic opened the scoring in the 15th minute.
In the 77th minute, Suarez scored his second goal for Barcelona. Rakitic, Messi, and Suarez combined to find Xavi, who passed the ball to Neymar. As Neymar got the ball, he went straight for goal but Sirigu was there to block the ball. Suarez got the rebound and put the ball away in the net to give Barcelona the 3-1 lead. Messi had the chance for the rebound, but allowed Suarez to score instead.
With this win Barcelona took first place in their group with 15 points and left PSG two points behind them with 13 points. Barcelona looked phenomenal today, compared to the first time they played PSG. The defense was a bit vulnerable but moving Mascherano to the center back when Rakitic came in helped Barcelona hold the lead.
(Feature image: Getty/Miguel Ruiz)