Barcelona score miracle victory
LUIS ENRIQUE CALLED IT: ‘WE CAN SCORE SIX’ Unlikely victory takes Spanish giants to tenth consecutive quarter-final.
Agoal in the fifth-minute of injury time from Sergi Roberto gave Barcelona a miracle 6-1 win over Paris Saint Germain to reach the Champions League quarter-finals last night in breathtaking style.
Barca scored three times in the last few minutes to go through 6-5 on aggregate, having lost 4-0 in Paris in the first leg.
Barcelona were ahead after just three minutes, when Luis Suarez headed in past goalkeeper Kevin Trapp from close range.
It was 2-0 five minutes from half-time, when PSG defender Layvin Kurzawa prodded the ball into his own net after Andres Iniesta had found the key pass with a clever backheel.
Lionel Messi made it 3-0 from the penalty spot just minutes into the second half after Neymar was fouled as Barcelona appeared poised to complete their unlikely comeback.
PSG’s Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani silenced the Camp Nou with a powerful right-foot drive just after the hour mark.
But two goals from Neymar in three minutes – one from a penalty – brought the Spanish giants level before Roberto stabbed the winner in from close range to complete the biggest comeback in the history of the Champions League.
Barca also enter the record books by reaching the quarter-finals for a 10th straight season.
Outgoing Barcelona boss Luis Enrique on Tuesday claimed his side had the firepower to stick six goals past PSG – a prediction which seemed highly unlikely, but ended up becoming true.
“If they can score four goals against us, we can score six,” Enrique said 24 hours before the kick-off.
A hat-trick by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic’s dazzling display fired Borussia Dortmund into the Champions League quarter-finals, with a 4-0 thrashing of Benfica last night.
The result saw Dortmund win the round-of-16 tie 4-1 on aggregate after Aubameyang’s early goal cancelled out Borussia’s 1-0 defeat in Lisbon last month. –