In the past five years, a lot has evolved in European football, and few clubs exemplify this better than Barcelona.
On this day in 2017, Barcelona demolished Paris Saint-Germain 6-1 in the greatest extraordinary Champions League comeback ever, being the only club in the championship’s history to recover a four-goal deficit in the first leg.
Neymar and Lionel Messi, the 2 superstars of that Blaugrana team, are now set to play for PSG versus Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Barca isn’t even in the knockout stages of the Champions League, rather meeting Galatasaray in the Europa League last 16 as they seek to return to UEFA’s premier competition next season.
Indeed, Barca is on the flip side of the coin of dramatic Champions League comebacks in recent years, but the PSG classic ranks one of the game’s best two-legged comebacks.
Barcelona created Champions League history by becoming the first side to bounce back from a 4-0 deficit in the first leg to proceed to the quarter-finals again for the tenth time in a row.
Considered one of the greatest European encounters of all time, the Spanish kings trailed 5-3 behind on aggregate in the 88th minute, then tallied three goals in the closing seven minutes to win.
On an astonishing night at the Nou Camp, Neymar’s free-kick and penalty, backed by Sergi Roberto’s 95th-minute goal, sealed the triumph.
Barcelona led 2-0 at halfway, thanks to Luis Suarez’s three-minute header and Layvin Kurzawa’s strike.
They grabbed another goal shortly after halftime when Neymar was tripped in the box by Thomas Meunier, and Lionel Messi netted the penalty.
PSG’s Edinson Cavani struck on 61 minutes, and the quarter-finals seemed to be out of grasp for Barca, but they had not watched this show.
Suarez won a debatable penalty and handed it to the Brazilian to execute – which he did, leaving Barça just one score to find in injury time. Neymar, who had put in a magnificent display, turned playmaker for sub-Roberto, who netted his first goal of the season, as the Nou Camp exploded.