Lionel Messi marginalised, fatal arrogance and bullied in midfield - what went so wrong for Barcelona at PSG?

[Dani ♡]

 

After their humiliating Champions League defeat against Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday night, Telegraph Sport analyses precisely what went wrong for Barcelona. The Spanish side were torn apart and suffered a 4-0 last-16 first-leg defeat that sees them facing elimination before the quarter-final for the first time since 2007. The Paris hammering equalled Barca's worst ever defeat in the Champions League, and no team has ever turned around a deficit of four or more goals in the competition. So, how did things go so spectacularly wrong for the 2015 champions in Paris, and what does the defeat mean for their increasingly beleaguered manager Luis Enrique?

Prior to the match starting, Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard were in agreement that to beat Barcelona you needed all three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar to not be at their best.

PSG defended so stoutly that they forced each of the fabled 'MSN' into sub-par performances, with only Neymar getting anywhere close to his best.

But even with the brilliance of Suarez and Neymar, Messi remains Barcelona's fulcrum and he is still the man opposition teams know they must keep quiet to have even a slim chance of causing an upset.

On Tuesday night PSG shackled Messi brilliantly, forcing the Argentine deeper and deeper until he ended the night without a single touch in the penalty area.

In total Barcelona managed just one shot on target all game, and Suarez was similarly peripheral - drifting around the pitch in areas he couldn't hurt PSG and managing only 30 touches all game (five of which were taking kick-offs) - the second fewest of any of the 22 players who started the match.

Where Barcelona's front three were subdued, PSG's attacking trident were absolutely sensational. All three of Angel di Maria, Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani got on the scoresheet, as Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti were left floundering.

Di Maria's brilliantly taken pair of goals must have left Manchester United's coaching staff scratching their heads over how the player flopped so badly at Old Trafford, while Arsene Wenger could have been forgiven a rueful shake of his as he watched former target Draxler tear Sergi Roberto to shreds.

The German managed 11 touches in the Barca box, completed three dribbles and took his goal beautifully. Cavani was equally clinical, and his goal encapsulated all that is good about the Uruguayan when he is confident - exceptional movement and the ability to take shots on early and catch goalkeepers off guard.

Barcelona's calling card over the last 30 years has been their relentless pressing game and willingness to build attacks from pretty much their own goal-line, which peaked under Johan Cruyff and Pep Guardiola and has been continued by their successors.

PSG though were brave enough to take them on at their own game, ripping into Barcelona from the first minute to deny them any time on the ball, even if that meant a fourth-minute yellow card for the outstanding Adrien Rabiot.

Barcelona looked unnerved by the pressure and seemed to lack the stomach, or possibly the energy, for the fight against PSG's irrepressible midfield of Rabiot, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti.

After the match Barcelona manager Enrique admitted: “They [PSG] were superior to us from the start, overcame us in terms of applying pressure, created danger – it was a night in which we were clearly inferior.”

It may be reading too much into it, but even the way Suarez and Messi were cuddling their opponents in the tunnel and laughing as they prepared for the match suggested a slight lack of focus. Had they under-estimated their opponents? The casual first 45 minutes certainly suggested so. Led by Rabiot, PSG were also confident enough to employ the Barcelona tactic of playing out from the back, and having the confidence to do so led directly to the third goal. Rabiot took a short pass from his goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and burst past Messi deep in his own half before slipping a pass to Draxler to start a move that was expertly finished by Di Maria.

The goal was a reminder of how vulnerable Barca are if a team is brave enough to attempt to beat the first press by bringing the ball forward aggressively from deep positions.

Matuidi put in a very solid shift for PSG, but it was Rabiot and Verratti who really caught the eye at the Parc des Princes. The latter two combined to set up Draxler's goal and throughout they unnerved Andre Gomes, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta with their relentless pressing. Rabiot also produced arguably the moment of the match with a flicked nutmeg pass through Messi's legs in the second half. Barcelona's midfield three by contrast were woeful, and offered precious little protection to the back four. The second goal came from a turnover in possession and Verratti strolling through the midfield unopposed, while for the third and fourth Di Maria and then Thomas Meunier were ushered through towards goal by the Barca defence like a schoolboy rugby player not so keen on tackling one of the big kids.

Going into the match, it was repeated ad nauseam that PSG manager Unai Emery had beaten Barcelona just once in 23 attempts, with the suggestion being that the weight of history would count against his team. There was no sign of an inferiority complex on Tuesday night though as Emery sent his team out to unsettle the Barca midfield and had clearly instructed the PSG players to ruthlessly target Barca's right side of Roberto and Gomes, something Draxler and left-back Layvin Kurzawa did to devastating effect.

Despite his overall poor record against Barcelona, Emery now has two wins from his last four matches against the Catalans, both of which came with the under-fire Enrique in charge. It seems almost inevitable now that Enrique will be sacked at the end of the season, and watching his team's limpness and lack of urgency in Paris, it is hard to put up much of a case for keeping him.