FC Barcelona, one of the top clubs in the world, hold themselves to extremely high standards. Just weeks ago, it seemed as though Barcelona’s season aspirations were crushed but now their season has been completely turned around.
Real Madrid were pulling away in La Liga and seemed unbeatable, but over the past months, the Catalonia giants have clawed their way back into the title race. Barcelona have mustered points and wins in the dying embers of recent matches to reach the top of the table. They are currently in first place, one point ahead of Real Madrid who have a game in hand. Barcelona’s turnaround in La Liga is largely due to Lionel Messi and his important late goals for the club.
In the Champions League, Barcelona were stunned by a determined Paris Saint-Germain side who thrashed them 4-0 in the first leg of the round of 16. It seemed as though Enrique’s team were out of the competition, as no team had ever overturned this great of a deficit in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Barcelona became the first to accomplish this feat.
Barcelona’s historic comeback on Wednesday against Paris in the Champions League has revamped their treble surge. The belief at Barcelona is at its peak after coming back from a 4-0 first leg score to win 6-5 on aggregate in the most dramatic fashion.
Luis Suarez got his side off to the perfect start by scoring in just the third minute of play. An own goal by Kurzawa doubled Barcelona’s advantage shortly before the break.
After half time, Messi slotted a penalty away before Edison Cavani’s volley piled pressure on Barcelona to score three more goals to have the aggregate lead. It seemed as though all hope was lost, as with three minutes left in regulation time, the score was still 3-5 on aggregate. But Neymar’s exquisite free kick and penalty within three minutes made it tied 5-5 on aggregate with five minutes of stoppage time to play.
Barcelona needed to score, however, because as it stood PSG would advance due to their away goal. In the 95th minute of play, Neymar played a peach of a pass into Sergi Roberto who brilliantly finished with an outstretched boot before sending Camp Nou into pandemonium. Luis Enrique’s side proved that anything is possible in football.
This historic comeback now sees the Spanish giants into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with La Liga still to play for in a battle against Real Madrid. Barcelona will face Alaves in the final of the Copa del Rey and will hope to complete their quest for a remarkable treble winning season.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
