In
a nerve reckoning match at Parc-des-Princes which was a treat to watch for the
neutral regarding the intensity and shear pace injected in the game by both
sides, PSG had the final laugh even in the presence of a weakened side.
Barcelona, on the other hand were given a touch of humanity as a clean-sheet
laden start to the season came to end for them. Although both Messi and Neymar
opened and closed the scoring in Paris yesterday, still a Matuidi striker from
close range was enough to see the home side through.
Here
are the 5 things we learned from this epic encounter:-
After
securing 5 clean sheets in as many games from the start of the season, the
Catalan giants were dealt a reality check when the visited Paris. While Lucas
Moura was a constant nuisance for Jordi Alba who probably had the worst night
in many months on the football pitch, pace and trickery of Cavani and Pastore
did little to help a labored Barcelona side. At 30 years of age, new Barcelona
signing Mathieu was given a rugged run as both Cavani and Pastore run him riot.
And if Cavani could have put his shooting boots on, the score-line might have
been much more disturbing for Barcelona.
PSG return to winning ways:
After
an unconvincing start to the season which have put their fans in doubt that
whether this team might retain their crown of French League, PSG announced them
in good fashion against 3 times Champions League winners. While this wasn’t the
most legendary of Barcelona sides, still they were the team to beat before the
start of this match considering all the results that were going the Spanish
sides’ way.
PSG fans love David Luiz - - and he
loves them back:
While
Luiz is always one of the most animated figure on the pitch whether you
consider his time in Brazil or at Chelsea, still it seemed from last night that
the Brazilian is fully enjoying his life in Paris. Being a full-back that
cannot remain stagnant on his base position for long, PSG fans cheered
every-time he took the ball forward. And Luiz repayed the faith really well by
becomng the 1st player to score a goal against Barcelona this season.
Barcelona conceded un-provoked
goals:
Apart
from the 3rd goal of PSG which has written class all over it, both of the 1st
two goals were a result of Barcelona errors. Matuidi, Luiz and Verrati had a
goal-less start to the season since last night however thanks to some
questionable defending from the Barcelona defense, all of them opened their
accounts for this season. In the 1st goal Luiz was given un-precedential time
in Barcelona defense while arguably the smallest player in PSG side won the
header for the 2nd goal. So even though this was the 1st defensive
dis-functioning Barcelona have seen this season, they have to look thoroughly
into it as teams with pace like PSG can disturb their defensive quorum more
often than not.
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