Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino led Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League quarter-finals, after Barcelona were eliminated on Wednesday.
The French club largely secured the pass in the first leg, which ended in favor of it 4-1 in Barcelona, but the strong entry of the Catalan club to yesterday's match and the confusion that struck the Parisians raised fears of a new "Remontada" that will repeat what happened in 2017 when the Catalan club reversed its delay back home. 4-0 to a 6-1 forth win.
Barcelona had 9 chances to score during the first half of yesterday's match, and St Germain goalkeeper Keylor Navas shined with his saves that saved his team from an early defeat.
And it seemed that the situation had changed in the second half, as Saint-Germain managed to better control the game, and managed to withstand Barcelona and end the match with a 1-1 draw, and ensure qualification 5-2 in the aggregate of the home and away matches.
European Champions League
Paris Saint-Germain reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League
⏯️ Watch the match summary 👇
#Barcelona_Baris #beINUCL |
#UCLhttps: //t.co/5ErHcWjKrt
- beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) March 10, 2021
The French press credited Pochettino with this return, and said that the Argentine coach imposed a state of alert as his players entered the dressing room and appeared angry at their performance in the first half, and used video clips to send specific messages.
The coach highlighted the players' mistakes in positioning and monitoring, criticizing the performance of the defenders and providing advice to amend things in the second half.
Although the Argentine coach's plan succeeded yesterday, it shows that the team still needs to work in order to reach a better level that allows it to advance in the next rounds, and to continue the search for the most expensive title at the level of club competition.