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FC Barcelona’s crusade in the Champions League ended in a very frustrating way. With a one-goal lead in the first leg and a quick brace after Raphinha’s first goal, what looked like a sure march to the semi-finals turned out to be a night of bitter disappointment.
Barça can only live on what could have happened, especially if Ronald Araujo had received a red card on the half-hour mark, a moment that replaced the course of the match.
We know that PSG are a strong team, and with an extra man, they are even stronger. Suddenly, Barça found themselves faced with a mammoth task, and as the visiting team’s goals came in, the dream faded. .
What was meant to be a wonderful evening has turned into a heart-wrenching nightmare, and Barça can only pick up the pieces and focus all their attention on La Liga and next Sunday’s Clasico.
As in the first leg, PSG dominated the first few minutes without consequence. And as in the first leg, in one of his first forays into French territory, Raphinha ended up giving Barça the lead.
The Brazilian had never scored in a Champions League match before those games against PSG, but now he has already dominated it. His third goal in the overall standings is also special, as it is the team’s 600th goal since UCL followed its new format, with Lamine Yamal no doubt to thank for his preparation work.
Very, very good. But from there it was all downhill.
Yamal himself was on the pitch much longer after the situation that interrupted the game just before the 30-minute mark.
Araujo tried to bring down Bradley Barcola on the edge of the box and as it was a last-man foul he was shown a red card. Xavi needed to send a new defender and Yamal the forced sacrifice.
A nerve-wracking moment for the Estadi Olimpic faithful, which became even more painful when former Blaugrana player Ousamane Dembélé put PSG in the fight.
A very, very nervous second half followed, in which Barça, reduced to ten men, had to face the monumental ordeal of keeping an insistent PSG at bay.
The Parisians threatened to score at any time and managed to do so in the 54th minute. The last thing Barça could do was lose concentration in defence. . . But they did, and Vitinha punished them for it.
The match started at full speed and, in the middle of it, Xavi showed a red card out of the technical domain for protesting.
And there would be even more Blaugrana furor when João Cancelo brought Dembélé into the area, the referee would have noticed to whistle a penalty and Kylian Mbappé would convert.
After 21 minutes of play, Barça went from 4-2 on aggregate to 5-4.
PSG were inside the game and spent the rest of the game trying to make the most of it. But they still only held a one-goal lead and Barca were frustrated to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to the max every time they found a way. Go ahead.
Hearts beat faster at Barça’s aggregate and nowhere more so than at the Olympic Stadium. . . The stadium believed in it. . .
Opportunity after opportunity, PSG went bankrupt. Two surprising saves from Ter Stegen, but 3 too much to ask. Mbappé made it 4-1
There were still seven minutes of added time remaining, but the confidence was gone. For Barça, the story of the 2023/24 Champions League is over.