Most Paris Saint-Germain supporters would like to forget the 6-1 loss to FC Barcelona in the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League and pretend it never happened.
Unfortunately, PSG’s manager at the time, Unai Emery, continues to talk about one of the most embarrassing losses in the history of football (via Sport). Speaking with Diego Martinez, his former assistant at Sevilla and current coach at Granada CF, Emery painfully recalls the dramatic defeat at the Camp Nou.
“There are lots of details in that game that can be scrutinized. But, starting from the end, I’d change the referee and that’s all.”
“I watched a repeat of the game the other day because I found it while channel hopping. I watched it from the 50th minute until the 82nd minute.”
“We were 3-0 down, we scored to make it 3-1 and we had a one-on-one that Cavani hit at the goalkeeper which would have made it 3-2, a clear penalty on [Angel] Di Maria that wasn’t given and in the 82nd minute, Di Maria fouled Neymar for the goal.”
“That’s when I stopped watching. In that part of the game, I saw one of our important players, who had injury problems during the season, was hiding and maybe I would substitute him now (if I could). They are details, circumstances that escape you in a game.”
Emery then took a shot at the Barcelona players and Luis Suárez especially, who he accused of deceiving the referee.
“Then there are other key circumstances—the Barcelona players, especially Suárez, going down in the box continuously, pressuring the referee until he fell into their trap.”
Only delusional Barcelona supporters refuse to admit that La Remontada was an utter farce. PSG should have qualified for the next round and there were several decisions that led to their demise as Emery explained.
However, what good is bringing all this up now? We know the ref, Deniz Aytekin, was horrible. UEFA investigated his performance that night and he even went to China to officiate a couple of games.
You would think Emery would like everyone to forget he was in charge of one of the most horrific Champions League losses in history but for some reason, he just can’t stop talking about that result.
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