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UCL Rewind: PSG earn controversial tie vs. Barcelona; Bayern takes control in win over Juve

ZlatanGoalvsBarcelonaCelebration (reuters)

By DAN KARELL

Two times during the match, the odds were against Paris Saint-Germain rescuing a point or finding a win.

But twice, the French side came back from a goal down to tie the scoreline in both controversial and dramatic fashion, tying Barcelona, 2-2, on Tuesday night in UEFA Champions League quarterfinal action in Paris.

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi scored the first for his club, but limped off just before halftime and was replaced by Cesc Fabregas to start the second half.

In the day’s other quarterfinal, Bayern Munich exerted control over their series with Juventus, beating the Italian side, 2-0. Left back David Alaba needed just 23 seconds to get Bayern’s first goal of the match, with the always dangerous Thomas Muller getting on the score sheet in the 63rd minute.

The German club showed that their massive win last Saturday was no fluke, completely dominating and outworking Juventus over the course of the 90 minutes. Mario Mandzukic kept the three-man backline of Juventus busy all evening, while midfielders Frank Ribery, Arjen Robben, Alaba, and right back Phillip Lahm constantly made runs on the wings, keeping the Italian counterparts busy.

Barcelona had a comfortable lead midway through the second half, with PSG seeming to tire. Then in the 79th minute, PSG forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic finally got on the board, finishing from close range to tie the match at one. Replays showed that he was in an offside position before he received the ball but the assistant referee missed it, and the goal stood.

Barcelona scored one back in the 84th minute when forward Alexis Sanchez won a penalty, which was converted by midfielder Xavi Hernandez with ease. But in the fourth minute of injury time, PSG midfielder Blaise Matuidi’s deflected shot on goal wrong-footed the Spanish goalkeeper Victor Valdes, and slowly rolled into the net.

What do you make of the results? Do you see Messi playing in the return leg? Do you believe Bayern are in a good position?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. More and more so, in this (spanish dominated) era of soccer (and enhanced soccer coverage), people ignore that bad calls are part of the game. It isn’t a nice thing to admit but it has always been and will always be true and inherent to this flowing, fast, sport.

    What a match last night. I was there, the atmosphere was amazing. The best attacker in the world on one side and the best defender in the world on the other, messi and thiago silva are on a level hard to fathom, and yet the attention is placed negatively on a missed call. The refs did not ruin the match. It is a pity to reduce a game to that, when it was actually about an underdog team coming out like rabid animals (lavezzi !), ceding, tiring, then showing their courage until literally the final second. The controversy should, I think, be whether a 2-2 was deserved based on the 90 minutes – I think it was. Regardless, Barca have what they want which is a huge advantage going home.

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  2. This is one of those cases where the word “controversial” doesn’t apply. That implies that there are two valid arguments. Nobody can honestly say that Ibra was onside. Undeserved and unfortunate, but there’s nothing to debate.

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    • Nope…

      Controversial – Giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement.

      The lack of an offsides call, and the resulting goal were controversial.

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      • What do you mean? There’s no disagreement. There can be no disagreement. It was far, far offside.

        Disagreement implies people don’t think he was offside.

        It wasn’t controversial. It was flat out wrong.

      • A clear mistake is not controversy.

        PSG fans know they got lucky, and don’t care. Barca knows they got screwed but can’t do anything about it. Even the AR (if he has the professionalism to watch the replay) will chalk it up as a bad day at the office.

        The only disagreement is between the scoreline and the reality of what happened tonight.

      • Is this a soccer site or grammar class? BTW the disagreement is over offside or offsides, I say offside.

      • A clear mistake is controversial if one does nothing to correct it. The scoreline stands, hence the controversy.

    • I do say I would love to get in on this fascinating discussion of definitions. But first, would anyone like to see some etchings…

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  3. “Replays showed that he was in an offside position before he received the ball but the assistant referee missed it, and the goal stood.”

    Understatement of the year. He’s a full 2 to 3 yards offside.

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  4. It’s too bad UEFA has such a stranglehold on Champion’s League game highlight videos. They put a 32 second clip online in 240p resolution… What about fans that can’t watch the match? I’m really glad MLS puts up 8-9 minute highlight videos of every game, usually in 720p. The FA cup puts up video at 1080p.

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  5. Matuidi’s volley was an absolute genius way to tie it up and make sure that the return leg means something.

    Speaking of which, if you’re in the U.S. and want to keep an eye on what time and on what channel the game (or any other!) is going to be on, check awaygoals.com – it was just launched and it is easy, good looking, and fast.

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