Unbelievable! Barcelona seal the greatest comeback in football history as Roberto scores SIXTH goal deep into stoppage time

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Neymar drops to his knees in celebration after Barcelona beat PSG to reach the last eight of the Champions League

Unbelievable! Barcelona seal the greatest comeback in football history as Roberto scores SIXTH goal deep into stoppage time

PETE JENSON: It was definitely the greatest ever comeback – it might even have been the greatest ever game. Barcelona were given mission impossible and delivered with 30 seconds to spare.

Barcelona 6-1 PSG (agg 6-5): Sergi Roberto scores stoppage-time winner as Luis Enrique’s side mount miraculous comeback to reach quarter-finals

  • Barcelona came back from a 4-0 first-leg defeat to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League 
  • Luis Suarez gave Barcelona a third-minute lead as they chased a record comeback against PSG
  • Defender Layvin Kurzawa bundled the ball into the back of his own net five minutes before half-time
  • Lionel Messi smashed home a penalty given by the fifth official after Neymar had been brought down
  • Edinson Cavani fired home from inside the 18-yard box with Barca just a goal from drawing level on aggregate
  • Neymar scores wonderful free-kick to make it 4-1 on the night as Barca eyed a miraculous comeback
  • Brazilian then scored from the penalty spot to draw the home side level on aggregate but going out
  • Sergi Roberto poked home from close range to complete a sensational comeback from Luis Enrique’s men

It was definitely the greatest ever comeback — it might even have been the greatest game of all time.

Barcelona were given mission impossible and they delivered with 30 seconds to spare — just enough time to get their entire bench of celebrating substitutes and coaching staff off the pitch — and for a heartbroken Paris Saint-Germain to take the restart.

‘This is a crazy sport,’ said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique. ‘There is nothing else like it. In the 41st minute (of the second half) we were out, but people kept believing and with the two substitutes we got the goal.

Sergi Roberto poked home from close range to complete the comeback and put Barcelona into the quarter-finals
The youngster runs off in celebration as Barca came back from a 4-0 first-leg defeat to progress 6-5 on aggregate
Roberto is chased by team-mates Andre Gomes and Gerard Pique as they rejoice in a miracle win at the Nou Camp
The match-winner is surrounded by his jubilant team-mates after his 95th minute goal sent Barcelona through
Barcelona’s players celebrate at the full-time whistle after pulling off an incredible comeback against PSG
Lionel Messi celebrates with the home fans after Barca pulled off an incredible comeback against PSG
Luis Enrique and his coaching staff join in the celebrations on the pitch after the full time whistle had blown
Neymar leaps into his manager Luis Enrique’s arms after Barca reached the quarter-finals in dramatic style
Neymar drops to his knees in celebration after Barcelona beat PSG to reach the last eight of the Champions League
The scoreboard is barely believable at the end of an incredible 90 minutes at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night
Barcelona midfielder Rafinha gets hold of the ball and looks to keep possession as Cavani closes in
Barcelona centre-back Samuel Umtiti slides in to win the ball from PSG’s Uruguayan striker Cavani
Spanish midfielder Sergio Busquets tracks the run of PSG winger Lucas Moura during the opening 45 minutes
Barcelona No 10 Messi attempts to weave in between the challenges of Matuidi and Adrien Rabiot
Messi attempts to spin past the challenge of PSG winger Julian Draxler but is sent tumbling by the German

MATCH FACTS, STATS AND MATCH ZONE

Barcelona: ter Stegen, Rafinha (Sergi Roberto 76), Umtiti, Pique, Mascherano, Iniesta (Turan 65), Busquets, Rakitic (Andre Gomes 84), Neymar, Luis Suarez, Messi

Subs not used: Cillessen, Alcacer, Jordi Alba, Digne

Goalscorers: Suarez 3, Kurzawa og 40, Messi 50, Neymar 88, 90, Sergi Roberto 90+5

Booked: Pique, Busquets, Rakitic, Suarez, Neymar

PSG: Trapp, Meunier (Krychowiak 90), Marquinhos, Thiago Silva, Kurzawa, Lucas Moura (Di Maria 55), Rabiot, Matuidi, Draxler, Verratti, Cavani

Subs not used: Areola, Kimpembe, Krychowiak, Pastore, Aurier, Ben Arfa

Goalscorers: Cavani 62

Booked: Matuidi, Draxler, Cavani, Marquinhos, Verratti

Referee: Deniz Aytekin

 

‘I saw Sergi Roberto score a lot of goals when he was a kid, but I often joke with him that these days he couldn’t score under a rainbow. Tonight was different.’

Barcelona had become the first team ever to turn around a 4-0 first-leg defeat and they had done it in the most extraordinary fashion with a 6-1 second-leg win.

It wasn’t even a miracle ‘made in Messi’.

He had played his part with the third goal of the night, but the win owed as much to Luis Suarez’s insatiable belief in the impossible, Neymar’s jaw-dropping genius and the never-say-die attitude of a team who used to woo the world with its football but will now be remembered for its guts too.

Suarez started it all after only three minutes when he flicked a header over PSG keeper Kevin Trapp. It was his 64th goal in 65 games in the Nou Camp. This stadium has proved too big for many strikers but he has had the measure of it from day one.

Five minutes before the break the second goal came. Iniesta back-heeled the ball from the byline into a crowded six-yard box and Layvin Kurzawa put it past his own goalkeeper.

PSG manager Unai Emery’s half-time team talk was set now: ‘We’re definitely going to have to score, lads’.

The Barcelona supporters were singing, ‘Yes we can’ as the half-time whistle was blown and five minutes after the restart they were believing more than ever.

Thomas Meunier dived head-first to stop Neymar getting around him and, when the Brazilian ran into his head and tumbled, the Barcelona players were convinced they had a penalty.

The referee hesitated but with Suarez and company sprinting to the official behind the goal, Deniz Aytekin conferred and pointed to the spot.

Messi had scored all five of his penalties so far this season. He made it six, slotting high into the top corner and Barcelona were now a goal from levelling the tie.

Then came the twist that no home supporter wanted to see. Edinson Cavani first hit the post from Meunier’s cross and was then given another chance on 62 minutes and this time he made no mistake.

No one has scored more goals in Europe this season and, with Gerard Pique floored, he buried a shot into the roof of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s net with the outside of his foot.

Angel Di Maria came on for PSG and could have made it 3-2 on the night when he raced clear only to shoot wide.

 Suarez appeals for calm as he gestures toward Pique as Barcelona chase down PSG's four-goal lead
Suarez appeals for calm as he gestures toward Pique as Barcelona chase down PSG’s four-goal lead

Suarez appeals for calm as he gestures toward Pique as Barcelona chase down PSG’s four-goal lead

The image of his love-heart celebration was still haunting Barcelona from the first leg and it would have been cruel had he extended the aggregate lead.

No one could have sensed what was coming and how costly the miss was to prove.

With two minutes left Neymar curled the perfect free-kick past Trapp to make it 4-1 on the night. Barcelona still needed two goals but Neymar wasn’t beaten and, when Suarez was pushed over in the area by Marquinhos, the Brazilian slammed home the penalty.

The penalty award was dubious but the officials had been carried along by the wave of emotion that seemed to be carrying Barcelona into the quarter-finals.

The players turned to the supporters for one last increase in the decibel levels and Ter Stegen went forward for a Messi free-kick. PSG cleared it but Ter Stegen was then fouled inside the PSG half and another free-kick was awarded

The L’Equipe front page on Thursday morning – the French paper’s headline translates to ‘unspeakable’ 

The ball was cleared again and surely the Barcelona beast was dead. But with 94 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock, it twitched one last time.

Arda Turan had come on as a late substitute for the exhausted Iniesta and he pinged a hopeful ball into the six-yard box.

Roberto, another of the late substitutes, ghosted round the back of the PSG defence to score past Trapp. ‘I threw myself at the ball with everything I had,’ said the midfielder. ‘I didn’t know whether I was offside or not.’

The flag stayed down and the entire Barcelona bench ran on.

Iniesta led the way and was one of the last off the pitch as PSG’s broken players took the restart. Barcelona were through and history had been made.

‘It was like a horror film at times,’ said Enrique.

‘But with a happy ending. This was all about belief. We never lost it. We knew we would need six goals because we expected them to score. It’s a victory that belongs to the players.

‘They never gave up and you can imagine what it does to our season. We thought we were out.’

They aren’t and no one will forget the extraordinary way they stayed in.

 SOURCE:DAILYMAIL

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