Barcelona implode at Nou Camp, as Paris Saint-Germain denies the Blaugrana a chance in the semi-final of the European Champions League.
Barcelona led 3-2 from the first leg, and an early goal from Raphinha tapping in after Lamine Yamal won his battle against Nuno Mendes put them within sight of the last four.
Yamal’s beautiful assist for Raphina made him the youngest ever player to provide an assist in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Ronaldo Araujo hauled down Bradley Barcola outside the area and was sent off for the last-man foul.
It was one of those where, even if it had been in the box, there would have been a case for a red card, with Araujo making no attempt to win the ball.
Eleven minutes after Araujo’s red card, Ousmane Dembele was the man at the far post to finish from Barcola’s cross, netting his second goal in as many games against his former club.
Vitinha drew PSG level on aggregate with a beautiful finish to even things up.
Barcelona had another red card, this time to manager Xavi. The Barcelona manager was clearly unhappy with something and kicked water bottles in disgust, while also being penalised for “foul and abusive language.”.
With 10 men and a manager missing, Barcelona shot themselves in the foot once more when Joao Cancelo took Dembele out with a rash tackle inside the box.
Kylian Mbappe then scored the resulting penalty in the 61st minute and blasted home in the dying stages to send PSG through.
Luis Enrique, the PSG manager, is the first ever ex-Barcelona manager to knock them out of the Champions League knockout round.
The last time he made the semi-finals, he won the competition with Barcelona.
Xavi labelled the second-leg defeat to Paris Saint-Germain a “disaster” and blamed the referee for his poor game management and decisions.
He said, ‘Araujo’s play marked the tie completely. It is not a red card; for me, it is not. It’s not good for football to have 10 players.
“With 10 players, it is very complicated. The work of an entire season is finished by a referee’s decision.
“I would have liked to play 11 against 11. It was an unnecessary send-off. I told the referee that he was a disaster.
“You already know that I don’t like to talk about the referees, but it marked a knockout tie, and I have to say it. We can’t be quiet about it.”
Source – PerSecondNews
