After the 4-1 home defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, FC Barcelona need a miracle to advance in today’s second leg.
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Barca managed to do just that four years ago, even after a 4-0 defeat in the first leg. What had happened and what did the protagonists at the time say later?
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In the first leg, Angel Di Maria scored a brace, Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani a 4-0 home win. Confident of victory, PSG traveled to the Camp Nou for the second leg.
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There Luis Suarez, Layvin Kurzawa with an own goal and Lionel Messi gave Barca a 3-0 lead, but then Cavani marked the all-important away goal. Barca needed three more – and shot three: Neymar (88th and 90th + 1) and Sergi Roberto (90th + 5).
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The Remontada continues to follow the decisive goalscorer Roberto to this day: “Whenever I’m on the road, people tell me that they remember the goal. It was an unbelievable night.”
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In 2019, Neymar also spoke out, turning the PSG fans against them. He moved from Barca to PSG for € 222m in the summer following the drama, but rumors of a possible return surfaced two years later.
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It was during this time that Neymar was asked about his fondest memory of his years in Barcelona – and he named the game that had caused so much pain for his current club. For the PSG fans, the statements should feel like mockery.
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“We all went nuts. It was the greatest feeling,” said Neymar.
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PSG coach at the time was Unai Emery, who left the club for Arsenal in 2018 and now works for Villarreal. “You can deal with a lot of details,” he said when asked about things that he would do differently in retrospect.
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“… but in the end I would change the referee and that was it.” Emery has not forgiven the German referee Deniz Aytekin for denying PSG an alleged penalty when the score was 3-1 …
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… and Barcelona awarded two instead. “The Barcelona players, especially Luis Suarez, kept falling in the penalty area, putting pressure on the referee until he fell into the trap.”
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In particular, the second penalty for Barcelona after a slight contact from Marquinhos to Suarez was quite excessive, which the alleged culprit from Brazil did not forget.
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When Messi complained about referee decisions at the Copa America 2019 after a semi-final with Argentina against Marquinhos’ Brazil, he recalled the Remontada and said:
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“The referees whistle just as much in his favor at Barcelona. He doesn’t talk about corruption. He lost and should accept that.”
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Marquinhos’ then Brazil and PSG colleague Thiago Silva spoke of a “ridiculous achievement” by Aytekins and emphasized: “Sometimes you shouldn’t look to others to blame after a defeat.”
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Thiago Motta was injured in 2017 and had to witness the drama from the stands. Nonetheless, he later spoke of his “worst memory” of his time at PSG, where he ended his career in 2018.
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Kurzawa, who scored an own goal at the time, is still in the squad. “It was a nightmare,” he said ahead of the current game, remembering 2017.
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“A couple of us were there back then and we all swore we’d never go through anything like this again. That’s why we were so focused in the first leg. I knew we wouldn’t lose.”
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Messi gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead, but Kylian Mbappe with a three-pack and Moise Kean turned the game around. What happens in the second leg?
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