BARCELONA find themselves teetering on the brink of an early Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night. The LaLiga giants are at the mercy of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, having been battered 4-1 by Kylian Mbappe and Co in the first leg at home last month. And barring a miraculous comeback, […]
BARCELONA find themselves teetering on the brink of an early Champions League exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday night.
The LaLiga giants are at the mercy of Mauricio Pochettino’s side, having been battered 4-1 by Kylian Mbappe and Co in the first leg at home last month.
And barring a miraculous comeback, Ronald Koeman‘s side will be eliminated at the round of 16 stage for the first time since 2007.
Frank Rijkaard’s men were reigning champions on that occasion, but fell to the previous winners Liverpool in a tightly contested affair.
Rafa Benitez’s Reds had returned to Anfield with a priceless 2-1 victory in Spain, courtesy of goals by Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise.
Amazingly, the two scorers had just been involved in an infamous golf club bust-up, with Riise having accused Bellamy of attacking him with a golf club after he’d refused to join the Welshman on stage to sing a song earlier in the day.
Both shrugged off the incident for their team, with Bellamy incredibly making light of it by swinging an imaginary golf club in celebration after scoring.
The return leg was a tight affair, as Barca tried to edge their way back into the tie.
Their team resembled a halfway house between Rijkaard’s 2006 Champions League winners and Pep Guardiola’s 2009 vintage.
The likes of Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol and Victor Valdes were all starters.
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But they were joined by a host of other stars.
With Gerard Pique still at Manchester United, Puyol was partnered in central defence by Mexican Rafa Marquez, while La Masia graduate Oleguer and French legend Lilian Thuram patrolled the flanks.
Sergio Busquets was just 18 at this point, with Deco instead the third member of Xavi and Iniesta’s midfield triumvirate.
As for Messi, he was joined in attack by two other legends of the game, in Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho.
As the tie ebbed away, Rijkaard threw on Ludovic Giuly and former Chelsea star Eidur Gudjohnsen.
And the Icelandic forward managed to get his side back into the game with 15 minutes to go, by converting Xavi’s pass after rounding Pepe Reina.
The Reds held firm to send Barcelona packing, however, and would go on to reach the final themselves, only being thwarted by Carlo Ancelotti’s brilliant AC Milan team 2-1 in the final.
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