Suarez stunners floor PSG at home
17 April 2015 1:28 AM GMT
The visitors’ all-star attack made their class count as Neymar coolly converted from a Lionel Messi assist in the 18th minute to put Luis Enrique’s men in control, before Suarez produced two clinical finishes in the final quarter of the game.
PSG got one back eight minutes from time from what was credited as a Jeremy Mathieu own-goal from a Gregory van der Wiel shot, but this was their first home defeat of the season and a first loss at home in Europe in 34 matches since 2006.
Next Tuesday’s second leg at the Camp Nou now looks set to be a formality, even if PSG will have talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti back from suspension by then. The French champions have been eliminated on away goals at this stage of the competition in each of the last two seasons, including against Barca in 2013, but they will do very well to even make it that close on this occasion.
PSG’s evening was further marred by the loss of captain Thiago Silva, who hobbled off just after Neymar’s opener with a thigh problem. A dejected Silva walked straight off the field to have his left thigh bandaged up, not even waiting until his fellow-Brazilian David Luiz was ready to take his place.
The former Chelsea defender was a surprise inclusion in Wednesday’s squad after travelling to Russia for treatment on a hamstring injury that was expected to sideline him for around three more weeks.
Messi, who has scored 45 goals in all competitions this season, provided a 25th assist, sliding a pass into the path of Neymar, who finished across Salvatore Sirigu with the PSG defence posted missing after Adrien Rabiot lost possession on the right wing. After crashing into Messi in the lead-up to that goal, Silva hobbled off, and Luiz had taken his place in time to see Neymar cut into the box and sent in a shot that Sirigu, this time, saved comfortably. However, Barcelona again undid the PSG defence midway through the second half, Suarez eliminating Luiz and Marquinhos as he cut into the area from the right before holding off Maxwell and prodding past Sirigu at his near post.
Ter Stegen blocked a thunderous Cavani shot before the classy Suarez struck again on 79 minutes, playing a quick one-two with Javier Mascherano and nutmegging the hapless Luiz before lashing a shot high into the top-right corner.
Had to nutmeg David Luiz: luis
Spanish club FC Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has said he had no option but to nutmeg Paris Saint Germain (PSG) defender David Luiz twice as he scored two wonderful goals to gift his side a 3-1 victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal. Nutmeg is a football technique in which a player rolls the ball between an opponent’s legs in order to dodge him. This can be done in order to pass to another player, to shoot on goal, or to carry on and retrieve it. Suarez easily cut inside Luiz to put Barcelona 2-0 up, and then repeated the trick again to score his second and his third for the night on Wednesday. “A striker is always looking for goals and the two moves came off for me. I had to nutmeg Luiz twice because there was nothing else I could do,” Suarez was quoted as saying by BBC. The 28-year-old took his tally to 17 goals for Barcelona this season and has put the Catalans on the brink of the semifinal. Brazilian forward Neymar had put the Spanish side ahead and then Suarez struck his first goal of the night, as he rolled the ball between the legs of Luiz and then smashed it home. He repeated the act again, nutmegging Luiz before hammering a shot into the top corner.
Bara were a solid side: Coach
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said his team produced a “solid” performance to beat French side Paris Saint-Germain. “We’ve been good while we had the ball, and in the defensive phase, and we were a solid side,” Enrique was quoted as saying by as.com after Wednesday’s match. Enrique also emphasised his team was unlucky to have conceded the goal and congratulated the players for the performance. “It’s a good moment to congratulate the players. I think it’s a fair victory. They tried to create problems for us too, but it’s true their goal came out of a move where we were unlucky.” Asked if they played intelligently, the coach said: “Well, there are a lot of adjectives. It’s one of them, but lots apply.” The 44-year-old coach believes they need to avoid any “surprise” which PSG will hurl at them in the second-leg at the Camp Nou stadium. “Those of us who live football from the inside we’ve seen it all. We need to avoid all speculation as well as any type of surprise,” he said.
PSG got one back eight minutes from time from what was credited as a Jeremy Mathieu own-goal from a Gregory van der Wiel shot, but this was their first home defeat of the season and a first loss at home in Europe in 34 matches since 2006.
Next Tuesday’s second leg at the Camp Nou now looks set to be a formality, even if PSG will have talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti back from suspension by then. The French champions have been eliminated on away goals at this stage of the competition in each of the last two seasons, including against Barca in 2013, but they will do very well to even make it that close on this occasion.
PSG’s evening was further marred by the loss of captain Thiago Silva, who hobbled off just after Neymar’s opener with a thigh problem. A dejected Silva walked straight off the field to have his left thigh bandaged up, not even waiting until his fellow-Brazilian David Luiz was ready to take his place.
The former Chelsea defender was a surprise inclusion in Wednesday’s squad after travelling to Russia for treatment on a hamstring injury that was expected to sideline him for around three more weeks.
Messi, who has scored 45 goals in all competitions this season, provided a 25th assist, sliding a pass into the path of Neymar, who finished across Salvatore Sirigu with the PSG defence posted missing after Adrien Rabiot lost possession on the right wing. After crashing into Messi in the lead-up to that goal, Silva hobbled off, and Luiz had taken his place in time to see Neymar cut into the box and sent in a shot that Sirigu, this time, saved comfortably. However, Barcelona again undid the PSG defence midway through the second half, Suarez eliminating Luiz and Marquinhos as he cut into the area from the right before holding off Maxwell and prodding past Sirigu at his near post.
Ter Stegen blocked a thunderous Cavani shot before the classy Suarez struck again on 79 minutes, playing a quick one-two with Javier Mascherano and nutmegging the hapless Luiz before lashing a shot high into the top-right corner.
Had to nutmeg David Luiz: luis
Spanish club FC Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has said he had no option but to nutmeg Paris Saint Germain (PSG) defender David Luiz twice as he scored two wonderful goals to gift his side a 3-1 victory in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal. Nutmeg is a football technique in which a player rolls the ball between an opponent’s legs in order to dodge him. This can be done in order to pass to another player, to shoot on goal, or to carry on and retrieve it. Suarez easily cut inside Luiz to put Barcelona 2-0 up, and then repeated the trick again to score his second and his third for the night on Wednesday. “A striker is always looking for goals and the two moves came off for me. I had to nutmeg Luiz twice because there was nothing else I could do,” Suarez was quoted as saying by BBC. The 28-year-old took his tally to 17 goals for Barcelona this season and has put the Catalans on the brink of the semifinal. Brazilian forward Neymar had put the Spanish side ahead and then Suarez struck his first goal of the night, as he rolled the ball between the legs of Luiz and then smashed it home. He repeated the act again, nutmegging Luiz before hammering a shot into the top corner.
Bara were a solid side: Coach
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said his team produced a “solid” performance to beat French side Paris Saint-Germain. “We’ve been good while we had the ball, and in the defensive phase, and we were a solid side,” Enrique was quoted as saying by as.com after Wednesday’s match. Enrique also emphasised his team was unlucky to have conceded the goal and congratulated the players for the performance. “It’s a good moment to congratulate the players. I think it’s a fair victory. They tried to create problems for us too, but it’s true their goal came out of a move where we were unlucky.” Asked if they played intelligently, the coach said: “Well, there are a lot of adjectives. It’s one of them, but lots apply.” The 44-year-old coach believes they need to avoid any “surprise” which PSG will hurl at them in the second-leg at the Camp Nou stadium. “Those of us who live football from the inside we’ve seen it all. We need to avoid all speculation as well as any type of surprise,” he said.
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