FAVORITES

This meeting will remain in the memories, especially those of Parisians but not only. A stunning victory (1-4) on the pitch of FC Barcelona after a 2-3 defeat at the Parc des Princes, the double from Kylian Mbappé, the response from Ousmane Dembélé under the whistles of his former audience, the twists and turns, the tension, goals… All the ingredients were there on Tuesday, at the Montjuïc Olympic stadium. We had never seen PSG or any other French club qualify after a home defeat in the first leg in C1. It is now done. Hats off to Paris-SG.

Often, in this type of tense match, the decisive matches, the events are contrary to PSG, which pulls away in the face of these difficulties. We have seen it so many times… And that was particularly the case in Barcelona, ​​in 2017 for example. Not this time. KO standing for a handful of minutes after the Barcelona goal, 20 minutes in fact, the Parisians were strong enough in their hearts and in their heads to take advantage of the slightest opportunity, the slightest weakness of Barcelona, ​​whether footballing or psychological. . And it is the people of Barcelona who have faltered at all levels, particularly the management of emotions. This is also the gift given by Luis Enrique to this team and this club, the serenity, the faith that it is possible.

SEE ALSO – Locker room, Dembélé, Al-Khelaïfi: the joy of the Parisians after their victory in Barcelona

We have often spoken of a mentally crumbling, feverish, “pooping pants” Marquinhos. We said it again recently. This is not this “Marqui” that we saw in Barcelona. The Brazilian captain of PSG put on his warrior’s clothes on Tuesday evening, like his saves at the end of the match, notably that of the 75th minute, after a save by Gigio Donnarumma in front of Robert Lewandowski. We saw him clench his fists, harangue his partners, push them. A captain, a real one. And obviously, he focused on doing the job defensively, that goes without saying. The return of the great Marquinhos?

This boy is amazing. Arriving on tiptoe last summer after only six good months in Lyon, for €50 million, supposedly in the shadow of Kylian Mbappé on the left and Ousmane Dembélé on the right, Bradley Barcola was able to establish himself over the season. Luis Enrique gave him confidence and playing time as a result, he felt something. It was a good thing for him: the Spanish coach received the dividends on Tuesday evening. Barcola set fire to his left side in Barcelona, ​​he caused the expulsion of Ronald Araujo and delivered a caviar for the first Parisian goal. At 21, that’s strong. The one that some had called a lamb after Newcastle has grown up a lot.

CLAW STRIKES

If there is a black spot on the Parisian side, it is the performance of Gigio Donnarumma. No white-blue on the Barcelona goal, even if the main culprit remains Nuno Mendes, the Italian goalkeeper lacked serenity on several interventions Tuesday evening. At the foot, we talked about his progress. We did not see them in this meeting. He watered all over the place. Fortunately for him, the Barcelona attackers did not have the same success as in the first leg, like this shot over Robert Lewandowski in the first period. It could have been 2-0 at that point. Donnarumma, however, did the job at the end of the match, stopping an attempt by Lewandowski. A nice tap in the 88th too. In the meantime, Keylor Navas’ successor in the Parisian goals did not reassure during this double confrontation…

Like Xavi, the Barcelonans largely blamed their elimination on the refereeing. And in particular regarding the red attributed to Ronald Araujo (29th). Except there was no flight Tuesday evening. In Paris, we are obviously well placed to know what it is like when the referee decides the fate of a match or a qualification. This was the case in 2017, in 2019 or in 2022. Each time, PSG had given the stick to be beaten, that is clear, but the referee had pushed the Parisian heads underwater. This time, Mr. Kovacs has nothing to reproach himself for. The people of Barcelona, ​​yes. Note that Xavi was also sent off for talking too much about the country to the Romanian referee in this quarter-final second leg.

Six goals in four matches. Kylian Mbappé loves FC Barcelona… It promises for the Clasicos in the years to come, if “KM” joins Real as planned at the end of the season. In the meantime, Catalan supporters are already treating the Parisian like a Madrilenian. The 2018 world champion received a hail of projectiles as he left the pitch at the Montjuïc stadium. Deplorable… Note that Mbappé, promptly, responded to the supporters by making gestures as if to tell them that he did not care about these excesses. He then embraced his president, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, before being subjected to other projectile throws and rushing into the tunnel.