Paris Saint-Germain will face FC Barcelona on February 16 and March 10 in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. These two fixtures will pose two clubs that relatively don’t like each other for what’s occurred inside and outside the pitch.
With a significant amount of players left over from that 6-1 remontada loss to the Spanish club, redemption will be on the minds of some. However, Les Parisiens can do more than exact revenge on Barça. As French football journalist Vincent Duluc stated in an interview with Foot Radio, the capital club has an opportunity to put the final dagger potentially in the Lionel Messi Barça era.
“Does Paris have a unique opportunity to erase the remorse? Yes! This game can be the game that ends the Messi generation at Barca. The remontada as a proper name will continue to last. It will be associated with PSG. But in this future clash between PSG and Barcelona, ending the Messi dynasty, that would be symbolic and a great way for Paris to take revenge. The players of the remontada are no longer there? European culture goes beyond the names of the players. It stretches over time,” said Duluc.
“The ascension will never fade. But this PSG-Barça is an opportunity to erase traces. It will be a critical moment in the history of Barça. It will perhaps be the end of the great Barcelona. And if PSG causes the end of Messi’s Barça, the mark will be more important. The comeback was one of Neymar’s last European matches with Barça. Imagine that this PSG-Barça is Messi’s last European match with Barcelona before going to PSG in turn. It would be a sacred symbol!”
PSG began the Barça’s downfall when they activated Neymar’s release clause to bring him to the French capital in 2017. The Catalan club did receive a significant transfer sum for the Brazil international but squandered it on players that didn’t live up to expectations.
Barça has failed to replace Neymar since his departure while wastefully spending money, which has caused the squad to regress year after year. The capital club can deal two final blows in a Round of 16 win and possibly taking Messi this summer when his contract expires.
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