Verratti Admits to Being ‘Disappointed’ With PSG’s Performance in the Champions League Return Fixture Against Barcelona

10 LIONEL MESSI BAR - 06 MARCO VERRATTI PSG FOOTBALL : Paris SG vs FC Barcelone - Ligue des Champions - 10/03/2021 AnthonyBIBARD/FEP/Panoramic PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxITAxBEL

While Paris Saint-Germain defeated Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, Marco Verratti was not quite pleased with his team’s performance in the return fixture.

Barcelona was more of the aggressors in the second leg against PSG. The Catalan side dominated possession and created far more high percentage goal-scoring chances than PSG in the match.

Even though PSG won the tie by a three-goal margin, Verratti felt that the aggregate win could have been sealed with a much more formidable showing in the second leg. Verratti spoke to RMC Sport on his overall thoughts on how PSG performed against Barca at the Parc des Princes.

“The return was a difficult game, against a good team who did not want to leave the Champions League and who tried to put pressure on us in the first ten minutes,” Verratti said. “It’s a team with players who have competition experience, like Messi, who was in good shape. We all suffered together but we are very happy with this qualification.

“I regret that we didn’t do better when we had the ball. We had spaces. We lacked players to attack the depth, I played number 10 but I am not a player who attacks very well the depth, Julian [Draxler] either. Neymar and Di Maria were missing, I remind you.

“Of course we could have done better, I would have liked us to get the ball out better, to have counter-attacks. We are disappointed on this point, but we are very happy with the qualification.”

As Verratti mentioned, he is still pleased with how PSG managed to punch its ticket to the Champions League quarterfinals.

The French powerhouse now awaits the quarterfinal draw of the competition, which will come on March 19 with the two matches then being played beginning early next month.

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Tags Barcelona Champions League Marco Verratti
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