Paris Saint-Germain are into the UEFA Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2021 after pulling off the unthinkable and overturning not only a 3-2 first leg defeat but also going 1-0 down in Tuesday’s second leg, to cap a remarkable comeback. Luis Enrique was the architect of the French giants’ downfall in the infamous Remontada back in 2017 but the Spanish tactician executed a second improbable 6-4 aggregate fightback to make history with PSG as the first team in 25 attempts to overturn a quarterfinal first leg loss at home.
It looked impossible for Paris when Barca made it 4-2 overall after just 12 minutes in Catalonia through Raphinha’s third goal over these two incredibly entertaining games, but a Ronald Araujo red card changed everything and enabled Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha to also add to their first leg goals. Kylian Mbappe saw both legs largely pass him by, but Joao Cancelo’s clumsy foul on Dembele led to a flurry of red cards within the Barca staff — including Xavi himself — and presented the French superstar with the chance to score from the penalty spot dressed all in white.
Real Madrid target Mbappe grabbed himself a second late on as the Blaugrana got desperate going forward in search of an equalizer, but his fifth and sixth career goals against La Liga’s defending champions disguised what had been two of his poorest displays in this 41-goal season so far. Now within one goal of his highest overall tally of 42 from back in 2020-21, the France international will have a shot at a two-legged semifinal against Borussia Dortmund in what will almost certainly be two of his final games with Paris.
While so much of the credit will go to the players and particularly the goal scorers for turning the tie on its head not once but twice, Luis Enrique deserves major recognition for correcting his mistakes from the first leg and not panicking when Barca went ahead in the second. That his first substitution took 77 minutes to arrive was proof that he aced his team selection and game plan for the return leg which had been evident before the hosts’ opening goal.
To say that Raphinha’s third goal across the two games came against the run of play would have been an understatement, but it was such individual brilliance from Lamine Yamal that it defied the cold and hard logic that PSG had been blowing Barca away until that point. Barcola picked up where he left off at Parc des Princes and stretched the Catalan defense at will while Dembele’s one man mission was not over until he had won the penalty for Mbappe to convert.
“Everyone believed even though we lost the first leg 3-2,” said former Barca man and MVP Dembele after the game. “We did not give up and we knew that we were going to respond on the field and score goals. It was a great effort from the whole team. We worked with the coach all week long and his tactics were perfect. We saw that in the game, even if we conceded the first goal. We did not let up and we continued to believe. We had to win the game.”
Luis Enrique’s almost perfect selection was not isolated to attack, though, with the Parisien defense more balanced with the returning Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes providing natural width either side of a solid central pairing of Marquinhos and Lucas Hernandez. The reinstatement of Warren Zaire-Emery to the starting XI made a huge difference alongside Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz who continues to be an understated performer for this Paris side when given the chance.
With so much history attached to this matchup and particularly the scenario in which it often finds itself in the knockout stages of the competition, it is impossible not to give the final word to the impact of the Remontada on this meeting and turning into what is now a genuine rivalry. Both legs were full of vitriol from the supporters and passion as well as commitment from the players and thankfully two 90-minute doses of world class soccer which PSG emerged victorious from.
If the 4-1 win back in 2021’s round of 16 was thought to have exorcized the French outfit’s demons from 2017, though, this was truly the moment that PSG have been working towards since that fateful night at Camp Nou. To replicate that score but to do so from one goal down on the night and two down on aggregate shows that Luis Enrique’s Paris team genuinely could be Champions League-winning quality despite so many question marks at times during the season. Now can this team handle being favorites over two legs against another of Dembele’s former clubs in Dortmund?
