Barcelona

Ten years ago today, a roguish little imp touched down in the Camp Nou and began to do things with the football that this planet had never seen before. It’s said that he was 19 years of age at the time, and his well shampooed mop of hair, preciously pushed back with a hairband, and wiry frame do allude to an awkward period in life, but to highlight your greatness at such a tender age by scoring a hat trick against Real Madrid in El Clasico, that defies all notions we have of the effect of time on a person.

Wednesday’s historic match between Barcelona and PSG has already entered footballing lore alongside Germany’s 7-1 destruction of Brazil and Portugal’s improbable victory over France. These are matches that, in today’s day and age, will always provide us with a good laugh and meme. PSG’s capitulation is now part of the comical DNA of the game.

Before Wednesday’s historic events at the Camp Nou, everyone had agreed that Barcelona would need to play a perfect match to turn the tide against Paris Saint-Germain. They would need to do unto PSG as PSG had done unto them. Sure, Barcelona could score four goals, but could they keep Edinson Cavani, Lucas Moura, Julian Draxler and Angel Di Maria off the scoresheet? 

Barcelona’s historic comeback on Wednesday night will serve as a landmark for Champions League football for as long as the competition exists. After that horrific performance in Paris that saw the Catalan side thrashed 4-0, it’s safe to say that nobody outside of Barcelona thought they could mount a comeback. Yet somehow they managed to pull through to the quarters, even with giving up the away goal that many expected to be their demise. 

The nail was in the coffin. Then, Barcelona did what only Barcelona could. The Blaugranes scored 3 goals in a span of 7 minutes to shock PSG in what was the biggest blown lead since the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 (sorry Falcons fans), and the biggest blown lead in Champions League history.

It is absolute bedlam in the Camp Nou. Barcelona notched their third goal in the 49th minute to bring the aggregate scoreline to 3-4. Iniesta sent what looked to be a harmless ball to Neymar, but the Brazilian hustled his way forward and Thomas Meunier lost his footing clashing into Neymar. It was an odd penalty, but a penalty nonetheless.

After Luis Suarez’s silly first goal, Barcelona found their second lifeline and the goal was just as silly as the first. This time it was PSG’s Layvin Kurzawa finding the back of his own net after a crazy sequence. Luis Suarez fed Andres Iniesta who’s determination caused confusion for the PSG defenders. Then the captain delivered a nifty little back heel and PSG’s Kurzawa attempted a clearance that ended up in the back of the net.