A frank handshake, a hug with slaps on the back and a smiley chat, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman started the round of 16 in the best of spirits.
Fate will often have brought them together.
Mauricio Pochettino (48 years old) arrived in Paris on January 2, and Ronald Koeman (57 years old), arrived in Catalonia in August 2020, were not on their first face-to-face.
In England, the Dutch succeeded the Argentinian on the Southampton bench in 2014. They therefore met for two seasons, during the matches against Tottenham.
Just two former Southampton managers sharing a hug as bosses of PSG and Barcelona in a Champions League knockout tie 😇 pic.twitter.com/ocx3gDTZ5j
- Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 16, 2021
This Tuesday evening, the two technicians fired their first tactical cartridge during the composition of their starting XI.
Barça tried the bet Gerard Pique, by starting the central defender who had not played since November 21 due to a sprained knee.
On the Parisian side, Pochettino launched Moïse Kean rather than Pablo Sarabia.
The Italian, author of a good performance, scored the third goal for his team.
The Argentinian was very well inspired throughout the match, making Mbappé hit corners on the right side, taking Gueye out at half-time to avoid a second yellow card.
Or by replacing the excellent Marco Verratti twenty minutes before the end to ensure his presence in the second leg (he was under threat of suspension).
Pochettino saw it all, anticipated it all.
There are days like this when everything works for you.
Pochettino yells encouragement to his men
But the great success of the Parisian coach will remain his ability to shape a real team in such a short time.
We had rarely seen such a cohesive collective, such a conquering state of mind.
Quite the opposite of Barça, with a disjointed style and low morale from the first minutes.
The Catalans were out of breath.
And it was felt along the fingerboard.
In the 7th minute, we saw Pochettino speak at length to Paredes, with kindness and calm.
In Camp Nou, he was also subsequently heard shouting encouragement and applauding his men for their offensive efforts.
He seemed skeptical of the Barcelona penalty.
Koeman clenched his fist when Messi transformed him.
But his face quickly closed, and helplessly, he found nothing better to do than bitch about the referee's decisions.
The day before the match, Pochettino had given his look at the work of Koeman, underlining, in hollow, the extent of his own mission in Paris: "New coaches always need a certain time to respond to the project, to the needs and see the results of the philosophy implemented.
»Pochettino, he did not delay to impose his style in Paris.
History is on the move.