A crazy scenario, a Barça who knew how to come back when PSG had gone back in front and a Luis Enrique who felt he better represented the DNA of Barça... It was enough for the Spanish sports newspapers to make their front pages on the beauty Barcelona's performance last night in Paris in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions League.
“Brutal! », headlines the daily Sport with a photo of Brazilian striker Raphinha the winning point. Author of a double, the former Rennais was one of the great architects of Barcelona's victory, taking advantage of PSG's defensive generosity. For Sport, Raphinha simply delivered his best match under the Blaugrana colors in a meeting which, for the pro-Barça daily, proved that Barcelona's DNA was still on Xavi's side, in reference to the pike launched by Luis Enrique to his counterpart the day before the match.
Barça back at the forefront of Europe
The Barça coach also receives praise from Mundo Deportivo for whom “Xavi surpassed Luis Enrique in the tactical battle”. The daily writes that last night at the Park, “the best of Barça returned to punch the table” for their first quarter-final of the Champions League in four years. “Luis Enrique perhaps cursed himself for having launched this barb before facing a Barça eager to regain its place in Europe,” writes AS.
“DNA is not enough,” summarizes the Madrid daily, comparing Barça's victory to an on-field response from Xavi to the Parisian coach. AS also congratulates Pedri, author of a splendid assist for his return to competition after a month of injury. “Few expected him to return with such a high standard,” it read. Another player finally made an impression, this time for his non-match. Kylian Mbappé, surrounded by the Barcelona defense, did not convince the Spanish newspapers.
On its front page, which congratulates the victories of both Barça and Atlético, Marca speaks of a “mediocre” Mbappé who had great difficulty extricating himself from his compatriot Jules Koundé, symbol of a Barça who has chosen the best time to shine again on the European scene. “Barcelona needed a result like this to strengthen the self-esteem of all its players”, continues Marca for whom now “Barça can compete with anyone”.