Barcelona v PSG: Champions League quarter-final – as it happened
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http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/apr/21/barcelona-psg-champions-league-live Version 0 of 1. 9.40pm BST21:40 Paul Griffin writes ... “These philistines who criticise Luiz don’t understand the subtleties of the modern game,” he says. “Just as the great Hungary team invented the false nine, a centre forward whose whereabouts was never clear, Luiz has introduced the world to the false six, a centre half whose position remains a complete mystery. Only the cognoscenti, not the arrivistes, understand this.” Thanks for your time and your emails, join me tomorrow evening for some more hot and sweaty Champions League action. 9.37pm BST21:37 Full time at Camp Nou: Barcelona 2-0 Paris Saint-Germain (agg: 5-1) Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeep! It’s all over and Barcelona are through to the Champions League semi-finals after a stroll in the park against PSG. Two first half strikes from Neymar were enough to put the game beyond a PSG side that never looked up for the fight after last week’s reverse. Meanwhile in Germany, Bayern Munich have advanced to the semi-finals courtesy of a 6-1 shellacking of Porto. They win 7-4 on aggregate. Updated at 9.38pm BST 9.35pm BST21:35 90+2 min: Messi pulls a low drive wide inches wide of the left upright from the edge of the penalty area. 9.34pm BST21:34 90+1 min: Maxwell gets his body between Messi and the ball to put a stop to the No10’s gallop, after he had shaped to shoot inside the penalty area, only to bear down on goal instead. 9.33pm BST21:33 89 min: Lavezzi brings a decent save out of Ter Stegen with a diagonal shot from about 15 yards that he didn’t seem to hit with much venom. The goalkeeper does well to hold on to the ball. 9.30pm BST21:30 87 min: Mascherano tidies up at the back for Barcelona after a Pique error threatened to allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic through on goal. Good defending by the Argentinian. 9.29pm BST21:29 85 min: Pastore is teed up by Lucas on the edge of the Barcelona penalty area. With plenty of time to pick his spot, he blazes the ball over the bar. Updated at 9.31pm BST 9.28pm BST21:28 84 min: It remains 2-0 on the night and 5-1 on aggregate and Barcelona are playing well within themselves. The match has been played at testimonial pace for large portions of this second half. Mascherano’s just cleared a Maxwell cross from the left, much to Zlatan’s disgust. 9.26pm BST21:26 83 min: PSG win a corner, which Lavezzi takes. His delivery is dreadful and Neymar clears at the near post. 9.25pm BST21:25 83 min: Lucas beats Dani Alves for toe down the inside left and attempts to cross for Lavezzi. The ball ends up in the warm embrace of Ter Stegen. 9.24pm BST21:24 81 min: Sergi Roberto wins the ball from Marquinhos on the halfway line and plays it towards Neymar. He skips up the field, only to be dispossessed by David Luiz. 9.23pm BST21:23 80 min: PSG double-substitution: Blaise Matuidi and Edinson Cavani off, Adrien Rabiot and Ezequiel Lavezzi on. 9.22pm BST21:22 79 min: Verratti plays a ball over the Barcelona defence from deep and finds Ibrahimovic in the channel. He crosses for Lucas, who scrambles the ball towards Cavani. He fires wildly into the side-netting from an offside position, but isn’t penalised. That was messy, but it was a chance. Updated at 9.23pm BST 9.20pm BST21:20 77 min: Sergi Roberto spots a Rakitic run into the PSG penalty area and tries to pick out his team-mate. He fails to do so and Sirigu dashes off his line to catch the ball. 9.19pm BST21:19 75 min: That would be the substitution I haven’t told you about yet: Pedro on for Barcelona, Luis Suarez off. The Uruguayan had another fine game, despite not scoring. 9.18pm BST21:18 73 min: Just before that substitution, Ibrahimovic brought a smart save out of Ter Stegen with a long-range effort from just outside the penalty area. 9.17pm BST21:17 73 min: Well inside his own half, Messi gets away from David Luiz and goes galloping up the pitch, but the Brazilian does well to get back and harry the Argentinian off the ball. 9.15pm BST21:15 70 min: Yes, this second half stroll is that exciting. We’re reduced to celeb-spotting. David Luiz does well to hack a Dani Alves cross from the right clear while running back towards his own goal. Suarez was lurking behind him. Moments previously, Maxwell was forced to head clear when Xavi sent in a cross. Updated at 9.15pm BST 9.12pm BST21:12 69 min: The camera cuts to tennis playing’s Andy Murray, who is at the game enjoying the rout. Updated at 9.15pm BST 9.11pm BST21:11 66 min: Verratti fouls Neymar, who laughs at the good of it. I don’t think the Italian was booked for that, but Barcelona have a free kick wide on the left, almost in lined with the side of the penalty area. Messi swings the ball into the penalty area, but PSG clear. PSG substitution: Cabaye off, Lucas Moura on. 9.09pm BST21:09 65 min: Rakitic plays another long ball towards Suarez on the inside right. With Neymar and Messi in the penalty area calling for a cross, Suarez completely overhits his delivery. Another reprieve for Barcelona. 9.08pm BST21:08 64 min: From deep, Rakitic plays a lpong pass along the floor for Luis Suarexz to chase. He does exactly that, with Messi and Neymar up in support. PSG manage to clear their lines. 9.06pm BST21:06 63 min: With the match being played at a rather pedestrian pace, Messi goes through the gears on the inside right, leaves a couple of defenders in his dust and slips the ball through for Luis Suarez on his inside. Offside. 9.04pm BST21:04 60 min: “I can understand PSG don’t want to get beaten up severely,” says ITV co-commentator Andy Townsend. “The last thing they want is five or six put past them.” They do seem to have reached an unspoken agreement with their opponents: “You don’t run amok on us and we won’t try too hard.” 9.03pm BST21:03 58 min: Gerard Pique shanks a clearance and the ball finds its way to Marco Verratti, unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. He looks up, picks his spot and has a shot, only to send the ball wide of the left upright. A poor effort. 9.02pm BST21:02 57 min: Barcelona seem content enough to have what they hold, as do PSG. They’re doing little or nothing to up the tempo in their bid to overturn this deficit. 8.58pm BST20:58 54 min: Pastore gives away the ball for what must be the 14th or 15th time. They’ve got to hook him soon - he’s having a shocker and is a liability at this stage. Barcelona substitution: Sergio Busquets off, Sargi Roberto on. 8.56pm BST20:56 53 min: Advancing on PSG’s goal, Messi plays the ball right to Suarez and continues his run to pick up the return pass. It never gets to him, as Maxwell intercepts the Uruguayan’s low cross. 8.55pm BST20:55 51 min: Rakitic tries a shot from distance but fires straight down the throat of Sirigu. Not long afterwards, Messi attempts to chip one over the PSG goalkeeper, but his notoriously poor technique lets him down and he fails to dig the ball out from under his feet properly. 8.52pm BST20:52 49 min: Pastore wins a throw in, halfway inside the Barcelona half. GAME ON!!!! 8.51pm BST20:51 48 min: From the right touchline just inside his own half, Cavani plays the ball into Verratti, who moves it sideways to Cabaye, who plays out to Maxwell on the left flank. Four passes from one side of the pitch to the other and not a yard made. 8.50pm BST20:50 46 min: Gregory van der Wiel gets a cross into the Barcelona penalty area, finding Zlatan. His header forces Ter Stegen to backpedal, but otherwise fails to trouble the Barcelona goalkeeper unduly. Updated at 9.40pm BST 8.48pm BST20:48 The second half is under way at Camp Nou Second half: PSG get the second half party started with their line-up unchanged. Barcelona have withdrawn Andres Iniesta and replaced him with Xavi Hernandez, who takes the armband. Off we go for what could end in total embarrassment for PSG if they don’t buck their ideas up. 8.44pm BST20:44 An email from Rolf Wilhelm: “Wasn’t Pastore supposed to be the best in the world according to Cantona?” he asks. “He is not even top 21 in this game.” 8.42pm BST20:42 Roy Keane is being surprisingly sympathetic: He says “you’ve got to feel sympathy” for David Luiz, because “he doesn’t look like he knows what he’s doing”. He certainly looked lost for Barcelona’s second goal, but you couldn’t particularly criticise him for the first, when a particularly well weighted pass from Iniesta simply took him out of the game. For all my criticism of PSG, Barcelona have been in truly irresistible form tonight. A joy to watch. 8.33pm BST20:33 Half-time at Camp Nou: Barcelona 2-0 PSG (Aggregate: 5-1) The players go in for the interval with Barcelona two goals to the good courtesy of a tidy brace from Neymar. PSG have been disappointing, but not entirely surprising in their surrender. They need four goals but haven’t come close to scoring one. 8.31pm BST20:31 44 min: Dani Alves is enjoying himself tonight, tormenting poor Maxwell in the PSG left-back position. Having just tried a shot from the halfway line that was more Charlie Chaplin than Charlie Adam, he went on another of his rampaging runs to try and tee up Luis Suarez with a cross that led to that corner I mentioned previously. 8.29pm BST20:29 42 min: Barcelona win a corner, which Ivan Rakitic takes from the right. David Luiz heads clear, as far as Cavani, who picks out Yohan Cabaye. He loses the ball. Updated at 8.29pm BST 8.27pm BST20:27 39 min: Their team needs four goals, but the PSG men most likely to get them have barely had a touch of the ball. Zlatan and Edinson Cavani are strolling around without a care in the world. In Munich, it’s Bayern Munich 5-0 Porto. That’s quite the teutonic slap-down for the Portuguese side’s impertinence last week. 8.25pm BST20:25 38 min: Another dazzling move from Barcelona ends with Neymar winning a corner after good work from Iniesta, Alves and Messi. PSG will settle for that - once again it looked as if they were about to be carved open. 8.23pm BST20:23 34 min: You get the feeling Barcelona’s players could really fill their boots tonight. PSG aren’t playing well and seem to have given up if the evidence of that goal is anything to go by. David Luiz was caught in no man’s land, leaving Gregory van der Wiel to mark two Barcelona players. After some nifty footwork on the right flank, Alves took the ball around Maxwell and presented Neymar with the kind of opportunity it would have been rude to miss. 8.20pm BST20:20 GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 PSG (Agg: 5-1) (Neymar 33) 33 min: Unmarked about a yard outside the six-yard box, Neymar makes no mistake as he heads past Sirigu after leaping to convert a fine Dani Alves cross from the right. Updated at 8.29pm BST 8.18pm BST20:18 31 min: Pastore gets a ticking off for a foul on Neymar and immediately gets all up in the referee’s grill complaining about a worse challenge Busquets made on him a couple of minutes previously. He has a point, to be fair. 8.15pm BST20:15 28 min: Showing great close control, Iniesta attempts to dribble his way through the PSG penalty area from the left flank, but is dispossessed at the angle of six-yard box and byline. There’s a half-hearted appeal for a penalty, but none is forthcoming. Updated at 9.10pm BST 8.14pm BST20:14 26 min: Luis Suarez attempts to pick out Neymar with a clever pass into the PSG penalty area. Despite his best attempts, he can’t shake off Marquinhos, who clears. Meanwhile in Munich, Bayern Munich are already 3-0 up on Porto. Oof! 8.12pm BST20:12 24 min: Javier Pastore loses the ball in midfield, not for the first time. He’s been doing it repeatedly since the game began. Dani Alves advances down the right and tries a shot, forcing Sirigu to parry. 8.09pm BST20:09 23 min: Messi attempts a volley after a Dani Alves cross to Luis Suarez was diverted his way. The ball set up nicely, perhaps a bit too nicely, and he blasted it over the bar. 8.07pm BST20:07 19 min: Nice from Verratti, who plays a ball over the top for Blaise Matuidi in an advanced position. With the ball on his left foot, he attempts a touch too many, allowing Jordi Alba, who’d tracked back, to avert the danger. Moments previously, Ibrahimovic had the ball in the Barca net after good work from Matuidi and Pastore, for a goal that was ruled out for offside. 8.05pm BST20:05 18 min: Edinson Cavani attempts to tee up Yohan Cabaye, rolling the ball his way on the edge of the penalty area. His shot is blocked. 8.04pm BST20:04 15 min: Maxwell attempts to put a cross on the head of Zlatan Ibrahimovic but fails. That Barcelona goal was a delight. With PSG pressing high up the pitch, Andres Iniesta picked up the ball, coasted past several rash challenges from Rakitic and others, before taking Marquinhos and David Luiz out of the equation with a beautiful pass for Neymar to run on to. With just Sirigu to beat, the Brazilian’s finish was fairly straightforward, but delightful nonetheless. 8.00pm BST20:00 GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 PSG (Agg: 4-1) (Neymar 14) 14 min: Neymar nonchalantly rolls the ball into an empty goal from about six yards out after latching on to an inch-perfect Andres Iniesta pass from a few yards outside the area and rounding Salvatore Sirigu. Updated at 8.28pm BST 7.58pm BST19:58 13 min: Messi attempts one of his scurrying runs into the PSG penalty area, but is stopped in his tracks by Maxwell. Good defending. 7.57pm BST19:57 11 min: Maxwell loses the ball to Dani Alves a couple of yards outside his area and the Barcelona right-back plays the ball to Rakitic. He attempts to pick out Neymar on the inside-left with a scooped pass, but his delivery is poor and Van der Wiel clears. 7.56pm BST19:56 9 min: Maxwell and Ibrahimovic combine down the left flank for Paris Saint-Germain, only for the ball to find it’s way inside to Pastore, who is dispossessed by Busquets. PSG are enjoying plenty of possession but doing very little with it. 7.54pm BST19:54 7 min: Javier Pastore gets on the ball just inside his own half and attempts to play one over the top for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to chase. He puts too much welly on his pass and Marc-Andre ter Stegen dashes off his line to grab the ball. No chances for either side so far. 7.52pm BST19:52 5 min: Neymar glides through the centre towards the PSG penalty area, only to be dispossessed by a fine challenge by Gregory van der Wiel. 7.51pm BST19:51 4 min: Barcelona win the first corner of the match and Ivan Rakitic curls the ball towards the edge of the six yard box. PSG can only half-clear, allowing Luis Suarez to get on the ball by the byline and attempt to wriggle his way past a defender. The ball eventually finds its way back to Salvatore Sirigu in the PSG goal. Updated at 7.51pm BST 7.49pm BST19:49 3 min: David Luiz gets penalised for lunging in towards Ivan Rakitic after showing him a bit too much of the ball. He’s on a yellow card after three minutes - the last thing he needs after what happened to the poor sod last week. 7.48pm BST19:48 2 min: Marco Verratti wins a free-kick just inside his own half after having his foot trodden on by Sergio Busquets. PSG play the ball around the back four, making no ground whatsoever. 7.46pm BST19:46 Play is under way at Camp Nou 1 min: Barcelona get the ball rolling wearing their traditional home kit that needs no describing. PSG’s players wear white shirts, white shorts and white socks. Barcelona lead 3-1 on aggregate and play is under way. 7.41pm BST19:41 Not long now: The teams are in the tunnel, waiting to be lead out. Zlatan Ibrahimovic skippers PSG, while Andres Iniesta wears the armband for the hosts. Away they go ... 7.40pm BST19:40 Style watch: Barcelona’s players turned up, with Neymar looking as if was off to a Lethal Bizzle gig in a peaked cap sported at a jaunty angle and a pair of ironic, thick-rimmed BBC 2 spectacles. He looked decidedly relaxed and in very good form. 7.36pm BST19:36 7.34pm BST19:34 Pundit’s corner: ITV have Lee Dixon, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes providing analysis and none of them are giving PSG a prayer of keeping a clean sheet against Barcelona’s front three. All are agreed that PSG have a better team out tonight than they did last week and Scholes gives them a chance of winning the game, but not the tie. Keane points out that they play in the same way as Barcelona, but are just not as good as them. 7.31pm BST19:31 Rural soap opera Emmerdale is over: ITV have the rights for tonight’s match here in Blighty, which means we only get 15 minutes of build-up to the game, which I suppose is enough. The people can’t be denied their daily dose of hay-rick romps and Woolpack tittle-tattle. Updated at 7.31pm BST 7.26pm BST19:26 7.25pm BST19:25 An email from Kári Tulinius, who is in upbeat mood: “Being a fan of PSG is dwelling in an existential hell,” he writes. “If not hell exactly, then at least dwelling in an existential damp, smelly basement flat. The team I’ve supported since childhood was bought by the state of Qatar. Some shady rich guy I could’ve handled, but an actual hereditary, absolute monarchy, complete with indentured servitude and stoning, is too much. But six year old me imprinted on the red and blue uniforms while living with my student-parents in Paris and here I am, full of anxious hope that Les Parisiens will somehow, against all odds, triumph over Barcelona, knowing that the team are merely one cog in the massive propaganda machine of Qatar. Stupid late capitalism.” 7.08pm BST19:08 Disciplinary tightrope department For PSG, Gregory van der Wiel and Blaise Matuidi will miss the next match (a group game in next season’s competition, most probably) should they pick up a booking. Barcelona have nobody in the same position. 6.57pm BST18:57 Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain line-ups Barcelona: ter Stegen, Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Jordi Alba, Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta, Messi, Suarez, Neymar. Subs: Bravo, Xavi, Pedro, Rafinha, Bartra, Sergi Roberto, Adriano. PSG: Sirigu, van der Wiel, Marquinhos, Luiz, Maxwell, Verratti, Cabaye, Matuidi, Cavani, Ibrahimovic, Pastore. Subs: Douchez, Camara, Lucas Moura, Bahebeck, Digne, Lavezzi, Rabiot. Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (Norway) Updated at 6.58pm BST 6.35pm BST18:35 6.35pm BST18:35 6.35pm BST18:35 The PSG manager speaks “We all know the task is extremely difficult,” said Laurent Blanc. “Our problem is that we have to score goals, though I do believe we will have plenty of chances. We have a small chance of winning but it’s practically impossible not to concede against Barcelona. “We have nothing to lose and Ibra likes that kind of match. He has been training every day and even if he’s not playing, he’s in great form at the moment. He is well rested which is good for future games. We don’t only have the objective of the Champions League, but other objectives too. “Barça are a big club, everyone knows that. The club are fortunate enough to have players who will be remembered for years after their retirement. There’s a difference between PSG and Barça; PSG are building a great club and Barcelona are already a great club. We know we are not here on a school trip, we know Barcelona will also want to win so we have to be strong. “I don’t like the word ‘revenge’. This is a football match and if I analyse all the games between PSG and Barça, Barça always have possession. It’s no surprise that this will happen again. I would like that to change but Barcelona are one of the best in the world. I am convinced we will have chances to score and we will be more efficient than in Paris.” 6.35pm BST18:35 The Barcelona manager speaks ... “Ibrahimović is back, but that doesn’t change matters because PSG will play in the same style,” said Luis Enrique at his press conference yesterday. “Ibra and Verratti are very important players for them, so their quality will, of course, increase. I only think in terms of winning. I understand a victory is much better than a draw. We will have to work hard at times tomorrow, like we did in Paris, and at other moments we will feel stronger. I don’t want to settle for a draw because I only think about winning. “I have a positive feeling because we know Paris very well, just like they know us. We want to improve on the way we played in Paris in the group stage. We hope to resolve those problems and enjoy the game. “Ibrahimović is capable of having a shot on goal at any time – he’s one of the best strikers in the world. We know him very well and he represents an extra source of motivation for us. We might change our plan a bit, but not because of Ibra or Verratti. We sometimes change it to create more problems for the opposition, not because of individual players. “Messi is at his best at the moment. He is very fit and has scored 400 goals, which is an unbelievable figure. He is unique.” 6.35pm BST18:35 All hope is not lost ... While the odds are stacked against Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich overturning their two-goal deficits tonight, they can take some hope from teams who have come back from first leg spankings in the past. Perhaps the most famous were Deportivo La Coruna, who in 2004 recovered from a 4-1 first leg spanking at the hands of AC Milan, to win 4-0 at the Riazor and advance to the semi-finals as 5-4 aggregate winners. In the same season, Monaco overturned a 4-2 quarter-final first leg defeat at the Bernabeu to beat the Galacticos of Real Madrid 3-1 in the second leg and go through on away goals. Chelsea fans will remember their team losing 3-1 at Napoli in the first leg of their round-of-16 tie in 2011-12. The defeat cost Andre Villas-Boas his job, but under Roberto Di Matteo, Chelsea went through to the quarter-finals courtesy of a 5-4 aggregate win and subsequently won the tournament. Chelsea also did a similar number on PSG last season, beating them 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to go through to the semi-finals, having lost the first leg 3-1 in Paris. 6.30pm BST18:30 Match preview ... Having lost 3-1 at home in the opening leg, Paris Saint-Germain have been given little or no chance of overturning the deficit in the return leg at Camp Nou - the boffins at the Soccer Power Index have been fiddling around on their abacuses and give them a miserly 1% chance of getting through to the semi-final, with a 4% chance of scoring three goals, the minimum number of goals required to advance. With Barcelona’s thee-pronged attack of Leo Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez currently firing on all cylinders, it’s probably safe to say that three goals won’t be enough for PSG. Dani Alves returns from injury for Barcelona and looks a certainty to go in at right-back. For PSG, Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns from the naughty step to line up against the club he left so acrimoniously and will surely be champing at the bit. Defender Thiago Silva and midfielder Thiago Motta remain sidelined through injury, while right-back Serge Aurier is suspended. |