March 8, 2017 was a night that will live long in the memory. Barcelona’s victory against Paris Saint-Germain was arguably the greatest comeback in European football. The Catalan giant’s manager Luis Enrique defied all online sport betting odds to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit at the Nou Camp and reach the last eight of the Champions League.
After the home side had scored three goals ahead, Edinson Cavani scored what seemed to be an important away goal in the second half, briefly putting them out of the sea.
They captured the imagination of Europe’s top sporting press with an incredible comeback over Les Perisiens in the Champions League with goals towards the end of match. Neymar Jr.’s late goals inspired exhilarating 6-1 victory to overturn a 4-0 defeat from the first leg, the former Santos man scored a brace and setting up Sergi Roberto’s winner deep into stoppage time.
Even Madrid’s sporting publication AS made mention of the achievement after Barca pulled out the strongest stunt in European Cup and Champions League history to break the Ligue 1 giants’ hearts at the Camp Nou.
The Madrid-based outlet was slightly less courtesy than its fellow Spanish outlets. With a big picture of PSG players complaining to the referee having awarded Barca with second penalty, AS ran and marked the report ‘Comeback with Repairs’, implying that the officials’ impact on the game helped Barca pull off their remarkable victory.
At the end of the match, other sports new outlets in France and Spain outlets began to make publication in respect to the incredible scenes.
Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo simply tipped Luis Enrique’s men “Heroes”, hailing: “A historic comeback with an interesting finish in a magical Camp Nou”
? Front page of @mundodeportivo – HEROES#WeAreMessi pic.twitter.com/fl96P8a1fv
— Leo Messi ? (@WeAreMessi) March 9, 2017
Also based in Barcelona, Sport simply marked the players as: “You are Legends
Sport. March 9.#frontpage #primapagina #portada #backpage #football #sports #FCBarcelona #barcapsg pic.twitter.com/gtbrmoz1EG
— Tijani Goullet AD (@TijaniGoulletAD) March 9, 2017
But outlets front pages were extolled with manic displays which met Roberto’s winner, photos shared by Madrid-based Marca, who relinquished their lean towards all things Real Madrid and not the 95th-minute winner as ‘miracle’
Here is how some other source reacted to the remarkable scene:
L’Equipe: “Unthinkable”
“While qualification seemed assured in the 88th minute, PSG conceded three goals in seven minutes and allowed Barca to make history. The whole Paris project is now threatened by this humiliation.”
24 years after France’s defeat to Bulgaria in 1993 – which saw the national side miss out on a World Cup sot at USA 1994 – the newspaper once again declared the Wednesday defeat as “unthinkable’.
France Football: “The incredible shipwreck”
“Manhandled and 3-0 down at half-time, PSG thought they had done the hard part reducing the score through Cavani. But the Catalans, helped by several questionable decisions, ended up overthrowing the Parisians at the very last second.”
There were also outlets in Germany that reacted to this:
Bild: “It really happened! Barcelona move mountains.”
Der Spiegel: “The best game – Barca’s miracle against Paris”
The publication added: “‘Nothing is impossible’, ‘We will always believe’, ‘We’ll give it our all’. Suddenly these hollow sayings sound like wise prophecies. This time the prophets are called Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Luis Enrique.”