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In a way, it’s the perfect partnership: a team with mentally embedded scars carefully cultivated through various degrees of public capitulation; a former Tottenham manager whose only management honor prior to January was consecutive Put On The Pressure Shields. PSG and Mauricio Pochettino simultaneously have the potential to be the best and, at times, the most disconcerting.
Not even a three-goal lead can quell his inherent anxiety. Barcelona felt at home with as much authority as PSG at the Camp Nou a month earlier, but the absence of that final decisive touch on Wednesday meant that The Comeback: Episode II – Los Cules Attack not next.
It will be of little comfort to Ronald Koeman that he was absolutely right. “If we take advantage of our opportunities like PSG did in the first leg, nothing is impossible.” he said midweek, seemingly unaware of just how much the completion of Ousmane Dembele could stretch the realms of credibility. It was particularly guilty in the first half, but this was in the whole of Barcelona: they scored a goal of ten shots on goal; the French champions scored four of nine in Spain. That is toothless versus ruthless.
They can at least hold onto the best performance of Koeman’s uncaring reign yet. Barcelona rescued their reputation rather than the tie itself, restoring pride during the dominant 90 minutes.
Kylian Mbappé’s latest foul summed up PSG’s transformation between games. All he touched appeared to be a goal in the first leg, but when he was presented with a late opportunity after beating the hapless Clement Lenglet, he skipped his shot for an exclamation point in the top corner.
The game needed Lionel Messi to convert that penalty at the edge of the break to maintain his intrigue, for the balance to tip a little closer to Barcelona and away from the hosts. Panic would have set in. Fear could have permeated the entire team. The flashbacks could have paralyzed them.
However, it is a merit of PSG and Pochettino that they have reacted so well. Keylor Navas rescued them in the first 45 minutes. The only stop he had to make in the second half was a header from Sergio Busquets.
Abdou Diallo’s presentation to Layvin Kurzawa, reserved and borked, was integral to monitoring Dembele’s movement. It was a curious game plan to trust him to relive that loss of stoppage time in the 2019 semi-final against Liverpool for the entirety of the first half. The failures that followed gave Pochettino a breathing space that he maximized.
His post-match statement that PSG “knew how to suffer” might be the most encouraging of all. This is the kind of difficult lesson he took at Tottenham, the kind of learning experience that strengthened him and them, together and apart. PSG took so many lives from Barcelona in the first leg that they could afford to lose nine and still have plenty. They are dangerous and vulnerable in equal parts and Pochettino only exemplifies it.
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