Barcelona are a gift from God - this was a divine, awe-inspiring act
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2015/04/22/1462335-31243733-310-310.jpg)
Updated 09/03/2017 at 22:18 GMT
Barcelona remind us why football is the world’s greatest sport. Their awe-inspiring victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 was not merely the greatest recovery in the history of football, it was a miracle from the game’s most divine side, writes Desmond Kane.
Barcelona celebrate record-breakling recovery.
Image credit: Eurosport
From more than a club, comes more than a clubbing.
The greatest recovery we’ve witnessed since Luke Skywalker lost a hand to his old pop Darth Vadar in The Empire Strikes Back? Quite possibly. But Stars Wars is a work of fiction, this was real.
The strike back here was something you should tell the world you lived through, whether you where among the privileged few inside the Camp Nou cathedral, or watching with the CIA on your smart TV at home.
Unlike Donald Trump and Brexit, here is something that restored your faith in the human condition. It was not merely a triumph for bewitching FC Barcelona, it was a triumph for man.
As the Camp Nou erupted at full-time as if Catalonia had gained its independence, they could have carried Lionel Messi and his comrades off in sedan chairs amid the tension-filled tears of triumph, torture and the gawping realisation that nothing is impossible for this blessed bunch.
Yet why bother when Luis Enrique's little band of miracle makers could probably have floated back to the changing rooms on the crest of a Catalan wave after Sergi Roberto's golden final touch gave us a crescendo to rival Placido Domingo in his pomp.
While Barca rejoiced in completing the greatest, most glorious, most epic, most fantastic and most rousing recovery in the history of the Champions League – scrub that, the history of sport - courtesy of a 6-1 win over a frazzled Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, for the vanquished there was only widespread desolation, natural disaster on a sporting scale.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/09/2039465-42784787-2560-1440.jpg)
Enrique and Emery react: 'This is how epic comebacks should be achieved'
If Monet was around to depict the Camp Nou in the aftermath, the impression of French hurt would have drained tears from a watercolour.
The gaping, horrific realisation that PSG had raised the white flags in their white shirts made this an all-round ghostly experience for those at the venue and those watching in the bars back in the French capital. For those Parisians, romance is dead. The Mona Lisa probably shed a tear last night.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/09/2039481-42785107-2560-1440.jpg)
Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (C) celebrates after scoring a goal with with Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar (L) and Barcelona's defender Gerard Pique (2L)
Image credit: AFP
Three weeks after PSG enjoyed the greatest night of their 47-year old history with a youthful 4-0 win in the first leg, this was indisputably the worst. One to recoil in horror at.
It was such a haunting evening for the French champions that the Parisian club could not even bring themselves to publish a report on the club’s official website.
They merely informed the world of the score under the headline "sans mots" or "without words" later bringing themselves to describe the evening as "hellish".
And there are no words to describe the miracle of the Camp Nou. How a side can be so utterly dominant in careering to a 4-0 rinsing going on six or seven at the Parc des Princes before managing to upstage Barings Bank – or even the Arsenal - with the dramatic nature of the collapse is beyond words.
A few weeks ago, this onlooker described PSG as being in La La Land after the astonishing nature of their victory. Well, three weeks on, Barcelona provided us with a Hollywood ending that was a creepy story for the visitors.
Not only does the guy not get the girl at the end of this one, the final act leaves him reflecting on images of what might have been if only he had come to his senses sooner. If only, as the heroine makes off with Gerard Pique.
Barcelona’s win was as close to a divine act of God as you are likely to witness. Arda Turan felt it was normal for Barca, only it wasn't. The football Gods are obviously Barcelona fans because they also smiled on the Catalan side last night when all seemed lost.
Even the heaven-sent trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar Junior and Luis Suarez needed some outside help to complete the most protruding comeback since Elvis Presley hit Las Vegas in 1968.
Luis Suarez and a Layvin Kurzawa own goal had given Barcelona a 2-0 lead at half-time prompting more than a little interest in what had appeared to be a dead rubber. PSG’s anxiety continued to grow when Messi tucked away a penalty after Neymar had been inadvertently felled by Thomas Meunier early in the second half.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/09/2039501-42785507-2560-1440.jpg)
Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar celebrates their 6-1 victory at the end of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match FC Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain FC
Image credit: AFP
Edinson Cavani appeared to have washed away the beads of sweat when he thumped a volley into the rigging just after the hour, but Barca were not finished. At the Camp Nou, Barca are never finished.
PSG should have nailed Barca on the counter, but Cavani and Angel Di Maria were wasteful inviting onto them the gathering storm of despair up ahead.
Neymar swept a free-kick into the net from distance on 88 minutes before plugging the net with a penalty after Suarez appeared to dive under pressure from Marquinhos on 91 minutes.
Still, a jittery PSG held the advantage on away goals at 5-5 deep into five added on for stoppage. They needed only to hold out to stay in, but the nervousness of their behaviour hinted at what was to come.
Marco Verratti typified a bloke who lost his mind when all around him were losing theirs. He made a fateful, dramatically ludicrous late challenge on Marc-Andre Ter Stegen just inside his own half to concede a free-kick as the Barca keeper was caught scrambling back to his halfway line.
Oh. We have to remember that it is Sergi Roberto, not Sergio. Like Johan Cruyff, Maradona, Ronaldinho, Messi, Ronald Koeman, Pep and Xavi, Sergi has his own little slice of Barcelona folklore. Just drop that little o when you come across his name in future pub quizzes, and you'll be fine. Oh.
It was Roberto, from the town of Reus, who wandered unmarked into the visiting area from a Neymar cross with just over one minute remaining of five minutes before throwing his boot at a ball to divert it into the net as the goalkeeper Kevin Trapp was left trapped diving the wrong way.
Prompt wild celebrations from close to 100,000 inside the biggest club stadium in Europe who thought they had seen it all until last night. They left believing nothing is impossible.
It has been compared to the New England Patriots recovery from 28-3 behind to usurp the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime at American football's Super Bowl last month, but that is doing Barcelona a disservice. This was a stand-alone moment. There was not even extra-time in Barca’s favour.
Football is the world’s only true global sport. Barcelona at the peak merely remind us why we love the game, and why we all revel in ability of chaps whose sole identity in life is their excellence with the ball at their feet.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/09/2039387-42783227-2560-1440.jpg)
Barcelona's coach Luis Enrique (R) celebrates their 6-1 victory at the end of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg football match.
Image credit: AFP
The defeat crept up on PSG like an unsuspecting punter ordering a couple of pints of Pelforth in a Paris restaurant before being shocked to discover they are in for over 20 Euros. Were PSG in over their heads? Most definitely.
The cost to PSG is another missed chance to tell the world that they amount to more than money from the Middle East. It was the sort of sobering experience that would drive you to drink. The memory of this will last longer than the scaffolding at the La Sagrada Familia.
Back to the drawing board for the Qatari owners of the French champions, who are informed that a one-night stand does equal true love, that one night of heaven is not good enough for a true slice of paradise. The poor gnarled PSG coach Unai Emery was almost consigned to tears.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/09/2039415-42783787-2560-1440.jpg)
Unai Emery cuts a dejected figure
Image credit: AFP
The Champions League is truly the school of hard knocks for a Europa League-winning master. Emery describes football as his passion, but this was his purgatory.
He started the night looking a bit like Al Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon, but ended it feeling like Pacino in Scent of a Woman. Barca had a dog’s chance to win, but somehow the Camp Nou became the Camp Yes for the underdogs, who are suddenly installed as favourites for a tournament they have no right to be in
Jock Stein's Dunfermline Athletic once produced a 6-2 win over Valencia after losing 4-0 in the old Fairs Cup in 1962, but it wouldn't be fair to compare that to these bloody inspirational goings on.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2017/03/08/2039378-42783047-2560-1440.jpg)
Football Soccer - Barcelona v Paris St Germain - UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg - The Nou Camp, Barcelona, Spain - 8/3/17 Barcelona's Sergi Roberto celebrates scoring their sixth goal with team mates and fans
Image credit: Reuters
Enrique has already announced his plans to quit at the end of the season after the loss in Paris because he felt he needed time away from such an all-consuming environment where he is the ring master in a football circus. Whether or not he changes his mind, he will need a vacation after this.
The roof came off the Nou Camp at a ground that has no roof. Thank God, or your lucky stars if you prefer, you lived in the days of Lionel Messi and this Barcelona side. Praise the Lord, or thank someone, for our magical world game.
"Més que un club". Indeed. They are known as more than a club for a reason. Barca are a gift from a greater being. As we live and breathe, this happened.
Desmond Kane
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article