PSG vs Barcelona (2017 Champions League Round of 16)
The largest comeback in UEFA Champions League history
The association football match between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain occurred on 8 March 2017 at the Camp Nou. It was the second leg of the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League round of 16; PSG won the first leg at the Parc des Princes 4–0 a month earlier. During the match, Barcelona scored six times, including two goals in injury time, to win the match 6–1 and 6–5 on aggregate. It was the largest comeback in UEFA Champions League history, which became known in Spain and France as La Remontada.
Quick Facts
- Competition
- UEFA Champions League
- Round
- Round of 16 (Second Leg)
- Venue
- Parc des Princes, Paris
- Final score
- PSG 6 - 1 Barcelona
- Aggregate score
- PSG 6 - 5 Barcelona
- Key moment
- Edinson Cavani's penalty and Serge Aurier's stoppage-time winner
Lore & Background
This was the third match between Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League knockout phases. PSG lost both previous encounters: in the quarter-finals of the 2012–13 edition on away goals and the 2014–15 season 5–1 on aggregate. Both teams had comfortably qualified from the group stage: PSG qualified as runner-up in Group A having faced Arsenal, Basel, and having achieved a nine-point lead over 3rd-placed Ludogorets Razgrad; Barcelona qualified as leaders of Group C, 10 points ahead of Borussia Mönchengladbach in third place and leading 2nd-place Manchester City by six points.
Reader's Guide
The second leg was played on 8 March at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Three minutes into the match, Luis Suárez scored the first goal. Layvin Kurzawa scored an own goal in the 40th minute. Five minutes after the restart, Neymar was fouled by Thomas Meunier in the penalty box, and Lionel Messi converted the penalty. Edinson Cavani scored Paris Saint-Germain's only goal in the 62nd minute. Neymar scored two goals in the closing stages – a free kick in the 88th minute and a penalty kick in the first minute of injury time – to make it 5–1. In the final seconds, Neymar delivered a cross into the penalty area. Sergi Roberto scored Barcelona's sixth and final goal in the fifth minute of injury time, winning the game 6–1 and advancing to the quarter finals 6–5 on aggregate.
Did You Know?
- Paris Saint-Germain's collapse was called a 'nightmare' and a 'humiliation' in the days following the match.
- The celebrations from Barcelona fans were described as a 'micro earthquake'.
- After the match, PSG lodged a complaint for ten refereeing errors with UEFA.
- One of the tie's main protagonists, Brazilian forward Neymar, moved from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record transfer fee in August 2017.
- In October 2022, PSG's striker Edinson Cavani declared that he was so affected by the defeat that he needed psychological therapy to overcome the shock.
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