The goal that won this game was a portrait of the way it had been played: all in, all the way to the end. A move that started deep in PSG’s half with Lee Kang-in chased backwards, turning, escaping and going at the opponents who had been pursuing him, ended in the Barcelona penalty area with Gonçalo Ramos sliding the ball under the body of Wojciech Szczesny. There were six seconds left, it was the 26th shot of an exhausting and enjoyable night, and now it really was over, Barcelona beaten.
For an hour they had gone at each other; for the last half an hour, as Barcelona tired, PSG had taken a step forward, turning the screw bit by bit, and in the end perhaps justice had been done. Above all, though, the feeling at the end was that this had been a lot of fun and that these are very good sides, even if Luis Enrique’s remain perhaps a step ahead, even with illustrious absentees, the Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé, among them. All over the pitch there were players who caught they eye, as much for the commitment as the quality, the speed at which everything happened, the intent in every action.
Continue reading…The goal that won this game was a portrait of the way it had been played: all in, all the way to the end. A move that started deep in PSG’s half with Lee Kang-in chased backwards, turning, escaping and going at the opponents who had been pursuing him, ended in the Barcelona penalty area with Gonçalo Ramos sliding the ball under the body of Wojciech Szczesny. There were six seconds left, it was the 26th shot of an exhausting and enjoyable night, and now it really was over, Barcelona beaten.For an hour they had gone at each other; for the last half an hour, as Barcelona tired, PSG had taken a step forward, turning the screw bit by bit, and in the end perhaps justice had been done. Above all, though, the feeling at the end was that this had been a lot of fun and that these are very good sides, even if Luis Enrique’s remain perhaps a step ahead, even with illustrious absentees, the Ballon d’Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé, among them. All over the pitch there were players who caught they eye, as much for the commitment as the quality, the speed at which everything happened, the intent in every action. Continue reading…