"I am very proud of the players, we had a more than perfect match," jubilant Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, after the Parisian demonstration in Barcelona on Tuesday (4-1 victory), in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League.
The president of Paris Saint-Germain, who did not forget to be careful, could indeed boast: Mauricio Pochettino's group taught Ronald Koeman's players a lesson.
All the more tasty as it was the first match between Barcelona and Parisians since the "remount" ... Knowing that Angel Di Maria is in the infirmary and that Presnel Kimpembe had only played the first leg there is four years, there were also four "survivors" of this meeting of March 8, 2017 on the lawn of Camp Nou Tuesday, Layvin Kurzawa, Marquinhos, Julian Draxler - holder in 2017 and entered the game on Tuesday - and Marco Verratti .
Which Verratti made sparks and reminded the Catalan management why she had gone out of her way to attract him in 2017. And to the Parisian leaders, why they had retained him ... An XXL service that does not pass to the second plan only because Kylian Mbappé has done wonders in historical proportions.
"This" hat-trick "will put him in the spotlight," said Mauricio Pochettino on Tuesday.
Herrera after Barça-PSG: "We played very well"
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However, Verratti's match should not be in the shadows.
From his lifestyle to his chronic inability to be decisive, through his ability to squat the infirmary or take silly cards, the 28-year-old Italian international (38 caps, 3 goals) has always left a certain a number of hungry observers, doubting its ability to guide a team to the highest levels and especially to exist over the duration of a season and even a match.
These are at their cost after the benchmark Barcelona match.
Hyperactive and still as precious on the ball
And yet, the former Pescara, recruited for a dozen million euros in 2012, in the most complete anonymity, had been in the fridge for a little over a week and a sole of Dimitri Payet at the very end of match, in Marseille (2-0 victory).
Never mind, he lacked neither rhythm nor juice against Barça, with the Parisian midfield which devoured the Catalan midfield as Omar Da Fonseca predicted in our columns.
“The middle, with Verratti and (Leandro) Paredes, is well worth Busquets-Pedri.
Pedri, his mother knows him, his cousin also, had fun the consultant Spain of
beIN SPORTS
.
Poor Sergio Busquets continues to be called Busquets, but it's not the same anymore.
In Argentina, it is sometimes said that players are like horses, horse for promenade or race.
Busquets can no longer do anything but walks.
The races, it's over ... "The races, it was not the strong point either for Verratti, even if he always scratched more balls and made the efforts to recover than some have been kind enough to let him. think over the years.
Tuesday, it's the Duracell bunny who wore number 6!
He only stopped to go out.
Aligned sometimes in the position of false 10, sometimes to the left in a three-way environment depending on the situation, Verratti spared no effort against Barcelona.
73 minutes of efforts and counter-efforts, always in the pressing, always there to offer solutions to his little comrades.
78 balls touched, 37 passes in the opposing camp (86.5% successful), one interception, four recoveries, one opposing shot countered… The statistics do not however say all the good that Verratti does to his team with the ball.
Impossible to take it from him.
And his glance is matched only by his paw.
His deviation for Mbappé on the equalizer?
A delight.
And it is not so often that it is decisive.
Over the last two seasons, not a single offering from the small transalpine midfielder within the framework of the Champions League!
It is already the second since the start of the current financial year, the eighth in total since his arrival on the banks of the Seine, in 64 C1 matches (3 goals).
And this saving tackle in front of Lionel Messi ...
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Has the new Verratti arrived, that of maturity, sharper, closer to the goal or in any case to the zone of truth, calmer?
The coaches who have succeeded on the Parisian bench since Carlo Ancelotti would have liked to get there.
Mauricio Pochettino may already be getting there, he who immediately positioned the Italian in 10 when Neymar is not there.
Anyway, there are ideas ... And even with the Brazilian superstar, the Owl continues to have more influence on his team's play.
He had some Tuesday in Catalan soil, it is nothing to say.
Last but not least, he did all this without being hit with a card that would have deprived him of the return match, like Leo Paredes elsewhere.
Marco Verratti, all good.
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