Paris (AFP)

No "remount" but nothing to boast about: Paris SG, dominating in the first leg, suffered Wednesday against Barcelona (1-1) in the eighth return of the Champions League but his goalkeeper Keylor Navas saved his place in the quarterfinals, where will also appear Liverpool, striker of Leipzig (2-0).

- PSG pass trembling with Navas -

If the first leg at Camp Nou (4-1 victory) had inspired all the superlatives around PSG, the 2020 European vice-champion delivered an indigestible porridge on Wednesday during the second round at the Parc des Princes and obtained a qualification without brio, far from the expected score for a contender for the coronation.

Was it the persistent ghost of the "remount" suffered in 2017 against the same Barça (4-0, 1-6)?

Or the absence of Neymar, still recovering?

Paris suffered a thousand deaths in a meeting where its advantage in the first leg should have given it more certainty.

Without a Navas in a state of grace, Lionel Messi and his partners would undoubtedly have pushed Paris to the edge of the precipice, even if no team has ever qualified in C1 after losing at home the first leg by three goals.

For more than an hour, the specter of a new disillusion hung over the Park behind closed doors.

Without the incredible failures in the finish of Ousmane Dembélé (11th, 13th, 24th, 32nd), and without the implausible parades of Navas (18th, 23rd), Barça would have quickly taken off.

However, it was Paris who opened the scoring following an avoidable foul by Clément Lenglet walking on the heel of Mauro Icardi: the referee whistled the penalty with the help of video refereeing (VAR) and Kylian Mbappé , author of a resounding hat-trick in the first leg, transformed into strength (30th).

A trompe-l'oeil goal for Bondy's racing car, moreover not very inspired at the end of its stereotypical counter-attacks, symbol of the too cautious ambitions of Mauricio Pochettino's team in the game.

This goal should have reassured Paris?

This boosted Barça, who quickly equalized on a splendid cannon shot from Lionel Messi in the top corner (37th).

And the Argentinian should have given the advantage to the Catalans on a penalty caused by Layvin Kurzawa if Navas, impassable, had not made a high class parade (45th + 3).

A turning point for PSG and for Messi, at the end of the contract in June, who may have played his last European match under the Barça jersey ... And for the first time since 2004-2005, the quarterfinals of the C1 are will play without Cristiano Ronaldo and / or Lionel Messi.

In short, the former Real Madrid goalkeeper changed the face of the game and Barça then lowered their feet, despite burning opportunities from Messi (61st) or Sergio Busquets (69th).

In 2017, Navas was not there to avoid the "remountada".

In 2021, the Parisians owe him their qualification in the quarterfinals, where they will have to show a whole different face.

- The Reds find colors -

Barely in the Premier League, Liverpool has recovered with this double confrontation won (2-0, 2-0) against Leipzig, semi-finalist last season.

The Reds certainly lacked success in attack in the first period, they were very scared when their goalkeeper Alisson Becker was saved by his cross (66th) ... but they ended up winning on two accelerations from Mohamed Salah (70th) and Sadio Mané (74th), already scorers in the first leg.

What reassure a little the team of Jürgen Klopp, who remained on a funny series of six defeats at home in the Premier League, unheard of for the club.

But paradoxically, evolving far from Anfield, in this Puskas Arena in Budapest where the two rounds were relocated due to health restrictions, seemed to liberate the Reds.

And the 2019 European champion and 2020 England champion, only 8th in the Premier League, can still color the end of the season a little ...

© 2021 AFP