Over the two legs, PSG definitely did not play worse football than Barcelona.
So, why did they go out of the competition?
If there's one factor that weighed down the future French champions, it has to be their goalkeeper.
Salvatore Sirigu, the ex-Palermo Italian goalie, hasn't yet proven himself as a player worthy of playing in later stages of the Champions League, if you ask me.
With a better goalkeeper, or a more inspired one, perhaps PSG might have prevented two or even all of the goals they conceded against Barca.
One, for certain, should have been avoided, and that's the penalty from which Xavi scored Barcelona's second away goal at the Parc des Princes.
And that's just the away goal that eliminated PSG, basically, or at the very least arguably.
The away goals rule!... What a cruel way for PSG to go out.
But they played really well, for a team who hasn't been in the Champions League for a long time.
Some teams make fools of themselves the first time out. Look at Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund last year.
I'm not totally convinced that PSG deserved to take the lead, but they did so, 5 minutes after the start of the second half, through Javier Pastore.
And PSG scared Barcelona so much that they decided to risk and use Messi, even though the Argentinian was clearly still recovering from his hamstring problem.
Messi revived Barcelona's way of playing, and he played a part in the 71st-minute deciding goal, scored by Pedro, but one couldn't avoid thinking what are the chances he may have aggravated his condition.
In any case, Barcelona progresses to the semifinals of the Champions League, and a dream final Real - Barca is still possible.
Highlights:
ฤฮฺ์ฐ FOOTYROOM.COM by footyroom
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