Barcelona showed that it’s recent great form hasn’t been a fluke. Helped by forward Raphinha’s brace, the Catalan giants secured a 3-2 comeback win against Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals.
Barca, who hasn’t lost a single game since head coach Xavi announced in late January that he’ll step down at the end of the season, opened the scoring in the 37th minute. Raphinha collected a deflected ball in the penalty area after a poor intervention by PSG’s goalie Gianluigi Donnarumma and found the net with a well-placed shot.
After the second half ended with Barca in front, PSG dialed up their attacking efforts in the second half. Ousmane Dembélé delivered an equalizer almost immediately, scoring against his former club in the 47th minute, before midfielder Vitinha got the French club in front just three minutes later.
In the 62nd minute, Raphinha escaped PSG’s offside trap to come face-to-face with Donnarumma and welcomed Pedri’s cross with a volley to make it 2-2. Fifteen minutes later, defender Andreas Christensen got Barca in the lead again with a scoring header from a corner kick.
This time, Barcelona held onto its lead to celebrate an important win. It will be now up to PSG to chase a one-goal deficit at Camp Nou next week.
“It’s a big win. We did really well, especially in defense. Everyone worked for the team and, tactically, we did really well,” said Xavi after the match.
