They never doubted. As if, deep down, they knew from the start that they were capable of reversing the trend and defeating Barça. Given losers by the statistics while no French team had yet qualified after losing the first leg at home, the Parisians arrived in Barcelona with the conviction that they would make history. “Everyone believed in it even though we lost in the first leg (2-3, March 10). We didn’t give up, we knew we were going to score goals here. We worked tactically, the coach’s tactics were perfect, said Ousmane Dembélé on Canal+. We conceded the first goal, but we didn’t give up. »
As soon as the first act was released, Luis Enrique emphasized the importance of believing in it. “We are going to do it,” he confided again on Monday to the media. There was, in these words, a continuity of the positive speech he gave to his players throughout the week.
Behind the scenes, the Iberian coach has always said that the qualification would be played at Montjuïc and has insisted in recent days that this would require an effort from the entire collective. He was not mistaken and, in passing, owed the supporters a little revenge after having made a mistake in his choices on the first leg. We were able to contest the tenure of Asensio or the absence of Zaire-Emery in the starting lineup at the Parc des Princes but, this time, Enrique returned to the classic by letting go of the experiments to rely on his certainties: Dembélé on the right, Barcola on the other side, a typical midfielder and a defense reinforced by the return from suspension of Achraf Hakimi who put the turbo in the second half.
What emerges from this team is a soul, a rejection of defeat and this need to react in the face of difficulty which makes all the difference. “The coach told us that we would win the match mentally,” Vitinha said. He brings us a lot in tactics and in the head. It’s important the way he makes us believe that everything will turn out our way. »
This is perhaps the big difference this season. Since the departures of Lionel Messi, Marco Verratti or Neymar, there is perhaps a lesser density of stars at PSG but a group is emerging and this Tuesday’s victory will give it even more certainty about its abilities which do not stopped growing over the months.
“We are a team!” »
There have been painful defeats, from Newcastle to Milan, but this team gives the impression of never giving up and wanting to win together. “All season, the supporters have seen a team that is struggling, that is working. We are a team! We can play well or badly but we will get the result, rejoices Luis Enrique. There is a connection between the fans and the team. It’s very positive. Everyone saw us eliminated, not the supporters who came here. We are alive in all competitions. »
Behind this overwhelming victory in Barcelona (4-1), there are inevitably the memories of the famous comeback of 2017 which resurface and the Spaniard, on the Barça bench seven years earlier, did not escape the comparisons of these two XXL performances of which he is the conductor. “I’m not going to choose between the two. When you are part of professional football, the desire is to see that you make people happy through your work. That’s what I tell my players: you can make people smile. The first comeback was of no use since we were eliminated in the next round. I hope this will help win something for the club. I hope to make it to the final this time. »
To do this, we will have to beat Dortmund, which PSG has already crossed and dominated during the group stage (2-0 victory and 1-1 draw). Paris, logically favorite, will perhaps not have the chance to be in numerical superiority for more than one half, as was the case this Tuesday evening after the expulsion of Ronald Araujo (29th). “Everything changed after the red card,” Luis Enrique himself admitted. His team showed enthusiasm, desire, character. And was able to count on worthy leaders like Kylian Mbappé, much criticized after his insipid performance in the first leg. You only had to see the already collectible scenes of celebration at the end of the match, the contagious hysteria of Luis Campos and the broad smile of Nasser Al-Khelaïfi to convince yourself that something may have happened. thing in Spain. The little spark to dream even bigger?
