FC Barcelona 6–1 Paris Saint-Germain FC

FC Barcelona 6–1 Paris Saint-Germain FC was the result of the second leg of a UEFA Champions League tie which occurred on 8 March 2017 at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Barcelona overcame a four-goal deficit in the second leg of their 2016–17 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain to win 6–5 on aggregate, making it the largest comeback in UEFA Champions League history, which became known in Spain and France as La Remontada (the comeback; ).

Background

It was the third time Paris Saint-Germain faced Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League knockout phases, having lost the two previous encounters in the 2012–13 on away goals, and the 2014–15 season on aggregate. Both teams had comfortably qualified from the group stage. Paris Saint-Germain qualified as runner-up in Group A having faced Arsenal, Basel, and having achieved a 9-point lead over 3rd-placed Ludogorets Razgrad. Barcelona qualified as leaders of Group C, far in front of Borussia Mönchengladbach and Celtic and leading 2nd-place Manchester City by 6 points.

The first leg was played on 14 February at the Parc des Princes in Paris; both teams were in good shape with Paris Saint-Germain coming from a 3–0 away win at Bordeaux in Ligue 1 and Barcelona thrashing Alavés in a 6–0 away win in La Liga.

Ángel Di María put the Parisians in front on 18 minutes with a free kick after Barcelona's Samuel Umtiti committed a foul. Julian Draxler made it 2–0 with a low shot in the 40th minute, assisted by Marco Verratti. After 55 minutes, Di María scored once again from a shot outside the box. Edinson Cavani scored the final goal of the game in the 72nd minute, securing the 4–0 win. Barcelona achieved only one shot on target during the whole match.

Match

Summary

The second leg was played on 8 March at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Once again, the two teams came into the match having won their league games, Barcelona 5–0 vs. Celta Vigo and Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 against Nancy.

The game had an attendance of 96,290. Barcelona's Luis Suárez scored the first goal of the game in the 3rd minute after heading the ball over the line before it was cleared by Thomas Meunier. In the 40th minute, Paris Saint-Germain's Layvin Kurzawa scored an own goal in an attempt to block a shot by Andrés Iniesta. The third goal came in the 50th minute via a penalty scored by Lionel Messi after Neymar was fouled by Thomas Meunier. Barcelona's hopes were seemingly brought down after Edinson Cavani scored Paris Saint-Germain's only goal in the 62nd minute, leaving them requiring three more to win due to the away goals rule now favoring the away side, PSG. Therefore, if Barcelona had only won 5–1, PSG would have won because they scored away, but Barcelona had not, thus winning the away goals 1–0. Neymar scored two goals in the closing stages – a free kick in the 88th minute and a penalty kick when Luis Suárez was fouled in the 90+1st – to make it 5–1. In the final seconds of the match, Neymar delivered a cross into the penalty area, and Sergi Roberto scored their sixth and final goal in the 90+5th minute, thus winning the game 6–1 and advancing to the quarter finals 6–5 on aggregate.

Details

Statistics

Post-match

Paris Saint-Germain's collapse was called a "nightmare" and a "humiliation" in the days following the match. The eruption of celebrations provoked a micro-earthquake in the Catalan city.

Subsequent analyses suggested that Paris Saint-Germain would have won on aggregate had the VAR system been in use. The refereeing of this match was criticized by the international press, in particular by some German dailies such as Der Tagesspiegel. There was speculation that the referee, Deniz Aytekin, could be demoted from his status by the governing body due to some of the decisions he made during the match, particularly the award of Barcelona's second penalty, and for not awarding a penalty to PSG and a red card for Mascherano. After the match, PSG lodged a complaint for ten refereeing errors with UEFA, which, without suspending him, ''de facto'' dismissed Deniz Aytekin from the major European posters, entrusting him with only a few minor group matches in the UEFA Champions League the following two seasons.

In the quarter-finals, Barcelona again suffered a heavy defeat in the first leg of the tie away from home, this time losing 3–0 to Juventus. However, they were unable to repeat their performance of the previous round and were eliminated after drawing 0–0 in the return leg.

One of the tie's main protagonists, Brazilian forward Neymar, was at the centre of a different matter involving the two clubs in August 2017 when he moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee.

In October 2022, PSG's striker Edinson Cavani declared to Spanish sports website Relevo that he was so affected by the defeat that he needed psychological therapy to overcome the shock.

Subsequent meetings

In the round of 16 of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain once again faced off against each other, this time in different circumstances. A major talking point for the media was the return of Neymar to Barcelona, although he was ruled out of the first leg with an injury. Regardless, PSG won the match 4–1 at the Camp Nou, with a hat-trick from Kylian Mbappé. In the second leg, a still Neymar-less PSG side managed to hold on to a 1–1 draw, beating Barça 5–2 on aggregate and advancing to the quarter-finals. This match proved to be Lionel Messi's last in the Champions League with Barcelona, as he joined PSG in the following transfer window.

The clubs met again, this time at the quarter-final stage, in the 2023–24 season, with Paris Saint-Germain now coached by Luis Enrique. Barcelona won the first leg in France 3–2, and went up a further goal at home, but eventually lost 4–1 (aggregate 6–4) after Ronald Araújo was sent off in the first half while the score was 4–2 on aggregate for Barcelona. An additional talking point was Ousmane Dembélé facing his former club Barcelona, which he had left a year prior; he went on to score in both legs of the tie, and was heavily whistled in Barcelona. The outcome was regarded as "revenge" for the Remontada by several media outlets and observers.

Unai Emery, now the coach of Aston Villa F.C., faced Luis Enrique's Paris St-Germain in the 2024–25 season at the quarter-final stage. Emery's return to Paris St-Germain was seen as a chance for him to 'exorcise the personal demons of the so-called "La Remontada"', since that 6-1 loss was a defining moment of Emery's career along with the four titles won in the UEFA Europa League. Aston Villa were eliminated by PSG 5–4 on aggregate at home, losing the first leg 3–1 and winning the second leg 3–2 with their comeback attempt falling short.https://www.skysports.com/football/news/32461/13343921/psg-vs-aston-villa-unai-emery-faces-luis-enrique-again-after-that-famous-6-1-comeback-by-barcelona-in-2017

See also

* Super Bowl LI, another large comeback in 2017
* 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final
* 2016–17 FC Barcelona season
* 2016–17 Paris Saint-Germain F.C. season
* FC Barcelona in international football
* Paris Saint-Germain FC in international football

References

External links

UEFA match commentary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barcelona 6-1 Paris Saint-Germain
2016–17 UEFA Champions League
Paris Saint-Germain 2017
Football competitions in Barcelona
March 2017 sports events in Spain
2010s in Barcelona
Association football matches in Spain
Nicknamed sporting events
2017
UEFA Champions League matches
Paris Saint-Germain FC matches