Benfica beat Dortmund by a solitary goal
Internet Desk: Argentina winger Angel Di Maria scored two great goals as French team Paris Saint-German beat five-time European champion Barcelona by 4-0 on Tuesday. PSG will play at Camp Nou on March 9 with a huge advantage in the second leg of their Champions League Round of 16 match.
Di Maria was totally out of form for most of the time in this season, celebrated his 29th birthday with a bang, as he scored a goal on 18th-minute with his trademark free kick and then scored a superb second from 25 metres out, on 55th minute of the game.
Germany winger Julian Draxler continued his rich form since joining from Wolfsburg, smacking in the second goal late in the first half.
Top scorer Edinson Cavani, also celebrating his birthday, emphatically drilled home the fourth in the 72nd minute – his 34th goal of a rampant season. He is no longer second fiddle to Zlatan Ibrahimovic and is playing like a free spirit.
“Di Maria and Cavani have great careers behind them and Draxler is still young, with a lot of things ahead of him,” PSG coach Unai Emery said. “The understanding between the three of them was very high.”
The noise level at Parc des Princes reached deafening proportions as the home fans watched in almost stunned disbelief as Barcelona cracked under waves of incessant pressure.
“We played a great game individually and collectively, with tremendous backing from the fans,” Emery said. “But I still have a lot of respect for Barca and 90 minutes is long. We must keep our concentration for the return match.”
Perhaps he was being diplomatic.
Because although Barcelona was supposed to be the favourite in the Round of 16 match, the night turned into a damage limitation exercise, the way it does when weak sides are totally outclassed.
“It’s not very difficult to explain. They were better than us from the start and put us under pressure,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “We couldn’t get out of it. We were obviously inferior tonight.”
The way Barca lost its shape and composure was completely unbecoming of such a proud club.
Luis Enrique’s side was destroyed by a PSG side playing with feverish determination, desperate to prove it belongs among Europe’s elite after falling at the quarterfinals in the last four seasons.
This time it looks like the mighty Barcelona won’t even reach the last eight, after equaling its worst ever Champions League defeat.
“I’m responsible for this,” Luis Enrique said. “We might need to change our shape (for the return leg) but it wasn’t really the shape that was to blame.”
Emery vowed that his players were not scared of Barca’s famed MSN attack of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, and would impose their game.
How right he was.
Messi, one of the best players of all time and a five-time Golden Ball winner, did nothing. Neither did Suarez or Neymar.
Forget the MSN, tonight was all about the CDD, as Cavani, Draxler and Di Maria ran the show.
“They are world class players … Di Maria in particular was very, very good,” Luis Enrique said. “They have a big attacking potential, work hard in defence and are incredible on the ball.”
It was an unforgettable night in PSG’s European history. The side reached the semifinals only once, in 1995, the year before it won its only trophy, the now defunct European Cup Winners’ Cup.
On this form, the current side looks like a title candidate.
One PSG banner in the stadium read “Jouez comme des guerriers, vos soldats sont derriere vous” (Play like warriors, your soldiers are behind you).
The players certainly responded.
Led by the indefatigable running of midfielders Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi, and the craft of Adrien Rabiot, PSG closed Barcelona down incessantly, before breaking forward at pace and stretching the creaky Catalan defense down both flanks.
PSG took the lead when Di Maria spotted a gap in the wall and sent a fizzing free kick past flat-footed goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Di Maria played with relentless energy, causing Barcelona enormous problems with his cross-field runs. He fully justified Emery’s decision to leave out Brazilian Lucas – one of PSG’s best players this season.
PSG’s high tempo and constant switching of play disrupted Barcelona’s shape, enabling a spare man to constantly dart in behind the back four.
It was like watching Barcelona putting PSG to the sword the way it did in the quarterfinals two years ago, dominating home and away to win 5-1 on aggregate.
Cavani, Matuidi and Rabiot all had shots saved with barely 10 minutes played.
Barcelona’s shambolic defense did not know whether to man mark or sit deep and when Cavani drilled the ball inside Ter Stegen’s post for the fourth goal, it rounded off a perfect night for the hosts.
In another match, Borussia Dortmund were left licking their wounds after wasting several chances in a frustrating 1-0 defeat at Benfica in their Champions League last 16, first leg clash on Tuesday.
The Germans misfired throughout the game with their top scorer, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the worst offender, as he missed two one-on-ones with goalkeeper Ederson and saw his penalty saved by the Brazilian just before the hour.
Dortmund, who scored a Champions League record 21 goals in the group stage, have only themselves to blame for losing to Kostantinos Mitroglou’s 48th minute goal but Andre Schuerrle said they would bounce back in the second leg on March 8.
“I think we played better, especially in the first half, we had the better opportunities,” said Schuerrle, who came on for Aubameyang. “Especially with the penalty, we should have won”There is a return leg and we will show that we were clearly better then and go through. We were clear through on goal and things didn’t work out. Such days happen,” added the winger.
Aubameyang stepped up to take the 58th minute spot kick, having had an awful game up to that point, and sent his penalty straight at Ederson to cap a frustrating evening.
“Aubameyang is not fully fit after the African Nations Cup and his body language did not suggest that he would do better after giving away (missing) the penalty,” Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel said of the forward.
Aubameyang’s country Gabon hosted the Jan 14-Feb. 5 Nations Cup finals but went out at the group stage.
“We played an outstanding game and conceded a goal with their first shot in the second half,” added Tuchel. “We were so, so good. We cannot do much more than carve out these golden chances.
“It is an extremely complicated result, but I am very proud of how we played tonight. Even though I am very disappointed, I am proud of how we presented ourselves.”