Champions League updates from the Parc des Princes
Tonight’s latest from the Championship and beyond
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9.34pm GMT
89 min: Rabiot concedes a free-kick just outside his own penalty area and Ivan Rakitic - the snake - spends a long time telling the referee the PSG midfielder should be given a second yellow and sent off. He’s probably right, but nobody likes a snitch and the referee keeps his card in his pocket. From the ensuing free-kick, Neymar shoots high over the cross-bar.
9.32pm GMT
88 min: Luis Enrique is cutting an extremely forlorn figure on the touchline and it’s not difficult to understand why. As things stand, if PSG score at Camp Nou in the second leg, his side will need six goals to get through to the quarter-finals.
9.29pm GMT
86 min: PSG substitution:Julian Draxler, one of several Princes de Parc at Parc des Princes tonight goes off to a standing ovation. He’s been absolutely superb, wreaking havoc down the left for PSG all night. Javier Pastore comes on for a gallop.
9.28pm GMT
84 min: Ah, replays show that Umtiti’s header was deflected on to the post by Layvin Kurzawa, who leaped alongside him. Good defending.
9.27pm GMT
83 min: Barcelona win a corner, which Rakitic lofts towards the far post. Piquet heads across the face of goal and Umtiti somehow contrives to head against the woodwork from a foot out when he had an empty goal to aim at. When your luck’s out ...
9.25pm GMT
81 min: An inability to type as well as PSG are playing has precluded me from mentioning every single attack of theirs, but it’s no exaggeration to say they’ve made Barcelona look like a pub team tonight. The Catalan side have been extraordinarily poor, but have not been allowed to play by PSG. The French champions have been outstanding in attack and defence and have completely bossed midfield. They could conceivably be six or seven goals up.
9.22pm GMT
79 min: Messi plays the ball to Jordi Alba by the byline and he pulls a volley back across the penalty area. Neymar vollies low and hard, but his effort fizzes wide.
9.20pm GMT
Some house-keeping: Rafinha is booked for a foul on Christopher Nkunku, who has replaced Marco Verratti. Barcelona substitution: Ivan Rakitic on for Andres Iniesta, who hasn’t been at the races. He’s just back from injury so it’s no surprise he was off the pace.
9.18pm GMT
74 min: Messi’s been semi-culpable for two of the PSG goals and Neymar will have to put his hand up for that one. Meunier picked the ball up inside his own half, cut inside Neymar’s “press” and then ambled forward at his leisure with all the time in the world. with Barcelona’s defenders back-pedalling, he slipped the ball into the penalty area, picking out a neat little run from Cavani, who beat Ter Stegen at his near post. Dust off your Valentine’s Day Massacre headlines - this could get a lot of worse before full-time.
9.15pm GMT
So easy! Edinson Cavani bags his birthday goal and it’s difficult to put into words just how easy it’s been for his side. The PSG right-back Thomas Meunier saunters through midfield in acres of space with nobody in a Barcelona shirt near him, slips the striker through the inside right and the finish is clinical.
9.13pm GMT
69 min: Marco Verratti goes down under a challenge from Leo Messi and immediately signals to the bench that he needs to be substituted. He hobbles off after getting stretchy-foot treatment for what looks like cramp. Hopefully it’s nothing more serious - he’s had a splendid game.
9.11pm GMT
67 min: Lucas drives at what passes for the Barcelona defence and unleashes a shot, but makes life easy for Ter Stegen. Moments later at the other end of the pitch, Kevin Trapp darts off his line to punch a cross from the left clear under pressure from Messi.
9.09pm GMT
66 min: Just to clarify, Draxler is not literally making hay down the left flank.
9.08pm GMT
65 min: Draxler is making hay down the left flank, as predicted. He drills the ball low and hard across the Barca penalty area, where Lucas swivels and tries to steer the ball goalwards. He doesn’t get decent contact and his shot is blocked.
9.07pm GMT
65 min: Barcelona win a free-kick wide on the right. Leo Messi curls the ball across the face of goal, but Neymar is well offside.
9.06pm GMT
63 min: Sergio Busquets is booked for a hack on Marco Verratti.
9.05pm GMT
61 min: Barcelona win a free-kick, from which PSG go close to scoring. Lucas releases the excellent Rabiot with a through ball down the left, but his cross is poor and leaves Cavani frustrated in the middle.
9.03pm GMT
60 min: PSG substitution: Angel Di Maria goes off to a standing ovation. He’s replaced by Lucas Moura. He doesn’t look injured, so I’m not sure what the logic is there.
9.02pm GMT
58 min: Barcelona substitution: Having given the ball away twice in quick succession, Andre Gomes is hooked by his manager Luis Enrique and replaced by Rafinha. It’s unfair to single anyone out from a Barcelona side that’s had an uncharacteristic collective stinker, but Gomes has been conspicuously dreadful.
9.00pm GMT
56 min: That was an absolutely outstanding team effort from PSG, even if Barcelona put up all the resistance of a set of training cones. Trapp played it out from the back to Draxler, who waltzed past a half-hearted Leo Messi press and played the ball forward. Eventually it found its way to Maria, who got it on his left foot and curled a splendid effort past Ter Stegen. The camera promptly cut to Leo Messi and his face was a picture of bewilderment.
8.58pm GMT
Crikey! Another birthday present for Angel Di Maria, who curls the ball around the outstretched arm of Marc Andre ter Stegen and into the top left-hand corner.
8.56pm GMT
53 min: Sergio Busquets misplaces a pass, the ball rolls into no-man’s land and Adrien Rabiot pounces. He gallops forwards and over-hits his through ball towards Cavani, who is one of two birthday boys in the PSG ranks. He’s 30 today, while Angel Di Maria is 29. Happy birthday, lads.
8.55pm GMT
51 min: Andres Iniesta mis-controls and puts the ball out of play for a PSG throw-in. No, really - Andres Iniesta mis-controls and puts the ball out of play for a PSG throw-in. These are not alternate facts. This is not fake news. Andres Iniesta’s first touch has just let him down.
8.53pm GMT
49 min: PSG appear to have started where they left off and are dominating the early stages of this second half. Di Maria picks out Meunier with a wonderful ball to the edge of the Barca penalty area, it’s moved wide and the ensuing cross from the left by Matuidi is headed wide by Cavani. He and Layvin Kurzawa were completely unmarked and may even have got in each other’s way. This is shocking from Barcelona.
8.50pm GMT
46 min: PSG win a free-kick halfway inside the Barca half and Angel Di Maria floats the ball towards the far post. Barcelona only half-clear to the right flank, where the centre-back Presnel Kimpembe does well to play it back across the face of goal. Draxler controls the ball and attempts to curl it inside the far post. Wide, but not by much.
8.47pm GMT
46 min: The teams emerge for the second half, with Barcelona on the ropes and desperate to get a foothold in this game. They’ve only been held scoreless once this season in any competition, by Malaga.
8.33pm GMT
Well, well, well! After a splendid first-half performance, Paris Saint-Germain go in for their half-time brew with a thoroughly deserved two-goal lead. They’ve been absolutely outstanding against a Barcelona team that hasn’t played well at all. They haven’t been allowed to play well at all.
8.31pm GMT
44 min: Julian Draxler wins a corner off the increasingly hapless Sergi Roberto. Di Maria drives the ball low towards the near post, where Cavani puts it out for a goal kick.
8.30pm GMT
43 min: Barcelona are in all sorts of bother - I can’t remember ever seeing them play so badly. Neymar’s the only one of them playing as well as you’d expect, while Leo Messi has been caught in possession twice in quick succession. Chapeau to PSG, mind - they have been outstanding. Verrati and Di Maria are completely bossing midfield.
8.28pm GMT
41 min: Leo Messi dawdles on the ball inside his own half, is robbed by Adrien Rabiot and makes no attempt to get the ball back. Rabiot played the ball to Marco Verratti, who drove forward through the centre and picked out Draxler with a wonderful through ball. The German made no mistake as he fired it low and hard into the corner past Ter Stegen from about 15 yards.
8.26pm GMT
40 min: Julian Draxler puts PSG even further ahead with his first ever Champions League goal after a mistake by ... Leo Messi.
8.25pm GMT
38 min: A bit of a lull, although Ter Stegen has a hairy moment when he’s forced out of his penalty area to deal with a through ball that stops short of the byline. He does so without fuss, under pressure from Cavani.
8.22pm GMT
35 min: Play moves down the other end, where - not for the first time - Julian Draxler breezes past Roberto and unleashes a drive from a tight angle. Ter Stegen puts it out for a corner with an exceptionally strong arm. A game of pinball ensues from the resulting inswinger, but Ter Stegen eventually gathers.
8.20pm GMT
34 min: Neymar wriggles down the inside left, cuts inside and tries to curl the ball towards the far post. His effort is blocked.
8.19pm GMT
32 min: Barcelona have forced themselves into the game since going a goal down and it’s about time too. Their midfielder Andre Gomes gets a yellow card for treading on Julian Draxler’s ankle with a late challenge.
8.17pm GMT
30 min: Corrections and clarifications department: By “into the side-netting”, I mean “goalwards, forcing a near post save from PSG goalkeeper Kevin Trapp. A corner for Barca”, from which nothing comes.
8.15pm GMT
28 min: A sign of life from Barcelona - Neymar sprints through the centre leaving Matuidi and Kimpembe in his wake. He plays the ball in behind the defence picking out a great run down the right from Andre Gomes, in tonight for Ivan Rakitic. He sends his low diagonal effort from a tight angle into the side netting.
8.13pm GMT
26 min: Meunier slaloms his way in from the right and plays the ball across the Barca penalty area. Cavani dummies and the ball rolls to Draxler, who is unable to get it out from under his feet and fire a shot off.
8.12pm GMT
25 min: Barca win a free-kick about 35 metres from the PSG goal and Messi and Neymar stand over it. Messi takes the shot, but it’s not high enough and cannons off the PSG wall.
8.10pm GMT
23 min: It’s been brought to my attention that Angel Di Maria celebrates his birthday today and the Argentinian is having a very happy one so far.
8.09pm GMT
22 min: Di Maria is running the show here and picks out Edinson Cavani with a pass down the inside right. The striker’s low diagonal effort is meat and drink to Ter Stegen.
8.08pm GMT
20 min: That was a smashing free-kick from Angel Di Maria and an early lead is no more than PSG deserve. They’ve totally dominated the opening 20 minutes. If Donald Trump is looking for inspiration for his Big Wall O’Mexico, he’d do well to avoid hiring anyone from this Barcelona team as an architect. One half of their defensive wall jumped in a bid to defend that free-kick, while the other didn’t. It made no difference: Di Maria’s free-kick was perfectly placed.
8.05pm GMT
18 min: A very dangerous position indeed, indeed! Di Maria gets it up and over the wall to curl the ball into the top right-hand corner.
8.04pm GMT
17 min: Samuel Umtiti is penalised for clattering into the back of Julian Draxler just outside the Barca penalty area. Free-kick for PSG in a very dangerous position indeed. It’s just outside the penalty, a foot right of the D.
8.03pm GMT
17 min: Neymar goes down with what looks like a knock, receives no treatment and pauses to tie his laces instead.
8.02pm GMT
15 min: An early contender for man of the match so far, Angel Di Maria powers down the inside right and tries to thread the ball into the path of Cavani. It’s blocked. Moments previously, Barcelona had enjoyed a rare sortie into PSG territory as Neymar galloped up the right flank on the break. Nothing came of it.
8.00pm GMT
13 min: Barcelona get themselves in a terrible mess at the back and Samuel Utitit is forced to hook the ball out for a throw-in just so they can gather themselves. PSG are pressing them to within an inch of their lives and they just can’t cope with it at the moment. They don’t like it up ‘em!
7.58pm GMT
11 min: PSG notch two shots on target in quick succession. Blaise Matuidi surges through the middle and unleashes a venomous drive that forces a fine one-handed save out of Ter Stegen. The ball breaks kindly for Di Maria, who has a shot blocked. Adrien Rabiot is next in line for a go, but his follow-up is lacking in power and hit straight at Ter Stegen.
7.56pm GMT
10 min: Ten minutes in and PSG are really bossing this match so far. It’s rare to see Barcelona on the back foot like this, with so many players in their own half. No shots on goal for either side, yet mind. Cavani has come closest with that shot Roberto blocked.
7.55pm GMT
8 min: Marquinhos picks out Julien Draxler on the left touchline, so the winger can torment Roberto. It’s a tactic so obvious even I managed to predict it and the Barca right-back is likely to be in for a long night. He’s doing OK so far.
7.53pm GMT
5 min: Di Maria, playing in a central role, picks out a possibly offside Cavani in space near the far post. The Uruguayan dilly dallies on the ball before unleashing a shot. Sergi Roberto makes a crucial block. PSG have started very strongly here!
7.52pm GMT
4 min: From the ensuing free-kick, the ball’s floated into the PSG penalty area, but the home side clear and scorch down the field on a counter-attack. Angel Di Maria curls the ball over the top and Ter Stegen strides purposefully out of his penalty area and coolly lifts the ball over his own team-mate Bliase Matuidi to clear.
7.50pm GMT
3 min: Adrien Rabiot gets the first booking of the game for an ill-advised lunge on Neymar, who was threatening to get away from him on the edge of the final third. Sound the disciplinary tightrope klaxon!
7.49pm GMT
2 min: Angel Di Maria over-hits a pass down the inside-right for Edinson Cavani to chase, allowing Marc Andre Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal to get an early touch.
7.47pm GMT
1 min: For PSG, Adrien Rabiot gets on the ball and drives forward down the inside left. He runs down a blind alley and ends up playing the ball backwards.
7.46pm GMT
1 min: Barcelona are a vision in turquoise or spearmint green tonight, while their hosts wear navy blue shirts with a maroon stripe down the front, blue shorts and blue socks. PSG get the ball rolling.
7.43pm GMT
The teams are in the tunnel, where Luis Suarez and his Uruguayan compatriot compatriot Edinson Cavani are having a good catch-up. Both sets of players are looking very relaxed indeed. They click-clack their way out on to the pitch , where kick-off is just moments away.
7.27pm GMT
Barcelona are without Javier Mascherano tonight. His replacement Samuel Umtiti will have been identified as a potential weakness by PSG. So will right-back Sergi Roberto, who has struggled to fill Dani Alves’s big boots since the Braxzilian left for Juventus. For their part, PSG have a Champions League debutant in the heart of their defence in Presnel Kimpembe. He’s in for Thiago Silva, who is suspended. Midfielder Thiago Motta is also out with unspecified “muscle problems”.
6.55pm GMT
PSG - Barca. Ancelotti and Ibrahimovic failed to do it. Blanc and Ibrahimovic failed to it. Can Emery and Cavani do it?
6.54pm GMT
PSG: Trapp, Meunier, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa, Verratti, Rabiot, Di Maria, Matuidi, Draxler, Cavani.
Subs: Areola, Lucas Moura, Pastore, Maxwell, Aurier, Ben Arfa, Nkunku.
6.36pm GMT
Related: Unai Emery’s PSG hybrid faces crash test against Barcelona in Champions League | Paul Doyle
6.30pm GMT
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Pique, Umtiti, Alba; Busquets, Iniesta, Gomes; Messi, Neymar, Suarez.
Paris Saint-Germain: Trapp; Meunier, Marquinhos, Kimpembe, Kurzawa; Rabiot, Verratti, Matuidi; Di María, Draxler; Cavani
6.30pm GMT
It’s not great, to be honest. As manager of various teams, he’s come up against Barcelona on 23 different occasions and only managed one victory, with Sevilla. As mentioned in today’s Fiver, his tactics on that occasion in October 2015 were to hope neither Andres Iniesta nor Lionel Messi were not playing and to hope that Barcelona would hit the woodwork three times. Those tactics worked to perfection, with Sevilla coming up trumps recording a 2-1 win.
6.30pm GMT
“Paris have played at a high level for the past few weeks,” he said. “We’ll just have to play better than them and win. Knowing Unai, he will try to make life difficult for us. Both teams have the same goal, but we’ll try to control the ball and create as many chances as possible.”
Asked if he has good memories of Parc de Princes and the team that calls it home, Enrique said: “We have good memories of this ground and this team”. But it’s never been easy, right Luis? “It’s never been easy.” Because PSG were never submissive or docile in those games because they know you perfectly, no doubt. “PSG were never submissive or docile in those games,” he said. “They know us perfectly.”
6.30pm GMT
“It should be a good, attractive tie,” predicted PSG’s Spanish manager in his pre-match press conference. “It’ll come down to who plays better at crucial moments, who gets their tactics right and who wins the duels on the pitch. We want to seize this chance because we’re playing against one of the best teams in Europe and the world.”
Asked if his squad is very motivated or if perhaps they feel inferior to anyone, Emery had this to say: “The squad is very motivated. We don’t feel inferior to anyone.”
6.30pm GMT
3.41pm GMT
Although chances are if you’re reading this you’re resolutely single and beyond all help, or else surreptitiously checking for updates while out on a date that almost certainly won’t end well because you keep LOOKING AT YOUR BLOODY PHONE!!!
Whatever your reasons for tuning in, we’re delighted to have your company on an evening when Paris is the suitably romantic location for the first leg of PSG v Barcelona in the last 16 knockout round. Will French hearts be broken by Barcelona for the third time since 2013? Might we bear witness to a St Valentine’s Day massacre? All will be revealed from 7.45pm (GMT), but we’ll be here with cheesy accordion music, some rubbish card from the dregs left on the shelves of WH Smith’s plus all the team news and build-up from now on.
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