Was Barcelona’s win the greatest comeback in Champions League history?
THE CAMP Nou erupted. A late winning goal is enough to send any football crowd into raptures. But three? That was how many Barcelona required as the 90th minute approached on March 8th, in the second leg of a Champions League knockout tie against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Catalan club had already been routed in the first leg, losing 4-0 in a woeful performance away at the Parc des Princes on February 14th. Barça’s faint hopes of qualifying for the quarter-final were dampened further still by the away-goals rule: if the aggregate scores across the two legs are level at the end of the tie, the side which has bagged more goals away from home progresses. And sure enough, after the home side raced out to a 3-0 lead, Edinson Cavani, Paris Saint-Germain’s centre-forward, drove a volley into the roof of their net in the 62nd minute. That meant that Barcelona would have to beat them by five, leaving them three goals short with about half an hour to go. They failed to score any for the next 26 minutes.
Only when the 88th minute arrived did the floodgates open. Neymar won a free-kick 30 yards from goal, and arrowed it into the top corner. Two minutes later Luis Suárez,...Continue reading