Champions League

You’d have to go all the way back to the 2006-07 season for the last time Barcelona failed to advance beyond the Champions League round of 16, but that streak is in extreme danger following a 4-0 thumping at the Parc des Princes.

Barcelona almost certainly needed to salvage an away goal before the March 8 return leg at the Camp Nou, but PSG simply outclassed Barcelona around the park on a night that will live long in the memories of PSG supporters.

Angel Di Maria has scored another sensational strike to put PSG up 3-0 over Barcelona in the 55th minute. Barca look completely shell shocked following a left-footed attempt from the Argentine that flew into the corner.

Can you feel the love, Paris?

Barcelona have chosen the absolute worst moment to put in one of their most carless performances of the season. They’ve given the ball away and been unable to play with a rampant PSG side that finds themselves up 2-0 at half. While Barca have been awful, PSG have been simply brilliant, dominating the Catalans in every aspect of the game. PSG have launched 11 shots in the first half, putting seven on target.

Paris Saint-Germain have taken an early lead over Barcelona in their Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Parc des Princes. PSG have been all over Barca in the early stages, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen did well to save from Blaise Matuidi in the 11th minute.

However, PSG found the opener after Julian Draxler was taken down on top of the box. Angel Di Maria stepped up and sent a curling effort near the right-hand corner. Luis Suarez completely neglected his responsibility in the wall and Der Stegen was beaten. 

A lot can change in a few months. The gap between the draw for the Champions League round of 16 and the matches themselves can be vast. Even in countries where a winter break (or the lack thereof) is not just an annual excuse for under-pressure managers, the sides which face off in February can be entirely different from those which were first drawn out of the pots. Now, after a relatively normal week in Serie A, what should we expect from the Italian teams still in Europe’s premier cup competition?

It’s a familiar scenario for Paris Saint-Germain: on a quest for European dominance and validation as one of the world’s top clubs, but Barcelona stand in their way. Barca eliminated PSG at the quarterfinal stage of both the 2012-13 and 2014-15 Champions League. 

On February 22nd and March 14th, two titans of the goalkeeping position will clash in their final duel at the highest level of the game. Perhaps we shouldn’t ever write-off the possibility of the 35-year-old Iker Casillas and the 39-year-old Gianluigi Buffon encountering each other on the pitch again, but we should be exceptionally grateful for at least one last bout.

There’s no escaping the fact that the draws for the Champions League and the Europa League are ridiculous. These hugely overdone gala affairs take three hours to achieve what could be done in ten minutes. The saving graces - scowling club directors, getting to see Clarence Seedorf again - are vastly overshadowed by the ludicrous complexity of everything and UEFA’s willingness to blow their own trumpet at every conceivable opportunity. The entire event is comical, but it doesn’t really matter.