Mauricio Pochettino‘s Paris Saint-Germain took the Nou Camp by storm as he and his men ran riot in the Catalan capital. The former Spurs manager was not expected to pull off such a show, especially after so many injuries. The extremely anticipated tie between Barcelona and the French giants ended in absolute shambles for the Blaugrana as they headed into a heavy 4-1 defeat. A Kylian Mbappe hattrick and a Moise Kean header was enough to seal the victory for the Ligue 1 giants as they ended up scoring 4 away goals.
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Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman seemed extremely disheartened after the defeat. As of now, it looks like the Dutchman has accepted the flaws in his side and has conceded this season’s UEFA Champions League campaign. The manager does not seem to have any hope to turn this tie around to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The former Everton coach has admitted that the Catalans have next to chance or very little chance of heading into the next round. It will certainly not be the easiest task.
"“I could tell you lies but the fact is that at 4-1 down from the home leg, there are very few chances of going through. This match shows us how much we have to improve, particularly at Champions League level.”Source UEFA"
The battle was extraordinary as the two former Southampton coaches went head to head. The Dutchman obviously accepted the loss and stated that Paris Saint-Germain were superior to them. He also mentioned that they were a better team than his referring to their unity even after facing so many injury problems. The manager also stated that his team were shown how much quality they have to improve in order to compete in Europe. He gladly accepted the loss and stated that he would be lying if he was to guarantee a comeback.
"“There’s nothing for it but to accept that they were way superior to us in the second half. They showed they have a more complete team than us. We accept that. But we have to improve things about our play.”"
Last but not the least, Barcelona have faced situations similar to this one before and have had no trouble turning ties around. It will be tough as they are not of the same quality as before but it is not certainly impossible.
Can Barca perform another remontada?