Why Did Barcelona Defender Commit a Costly Penalty Foul in Barcelona vs PSG UCL Clash?

The foul on Ousmane Dembele in Barcelona vs PSG turned out to be a game-changing mistake

The UEFA Champions League’s 2nd leg quarterfinal clash of Barcelona vs PSG turned out to be a nightmare for the hosts. Despite winning the 1st leg at Parc de Princes and coming in front of the home crowd with a 3-2 aggregate lead on their side, things unfolded rather unfavorably for the Camp Nou boys.

Barca took an early lead into the game, to stretch their advantage of the aggregate score by 4-2. However, things then started going downhill for the home side. During a crucial juncture of the match in the second half, Barca’s defender Joao Cancelo fouled PSG’s Ousmane Dembele inside the penalty area leading the referee to straight away point to the spot. It was a challenge that normally one would expect a player like Cancelo would never make in such a crucial game.

Kylian Mbappe took the penalty for the visitors and scored. It gave PSG a 3-1 advantageous scoreline on the night. Former Arsenal Legend and France international footballer Thierry Henry insisted upon the fact that maybe the fear of a PSG comeback tempted Joao Cancelo to make that rash tackle.

“You can’t recreate the crowd. You can’t recreate you are down to 10 men. You can’t recreate that you are scared that they might come back in the game”. “People stay calm or not?”

Henry further pointed out the fact that the Barca defender must remained calm during that situation and reflected other players like Virgil van Dijk would have never committed a foul like that in such an important match scenario.

Barcelona vs PSG configured one of the greatest comebacks in the history of UCL

Despite being 3-2 down on the aggregate leading up to the 2nd leg of their fixture at Camp Nou, the Les Parisiens sealed a historic comeback in the Barcelona vs PSG UCL encounter to seal a place in the competition’s semifinal and amidst the process knocked the hosts out of it.

PSG won the game by a scoreline of 1-4 and progressed ahead in the tournament by an aggregate scoreline line of 4-6 in their favor. Barca’s Raphinha opened the scoring on the night for the home side. His goal was followed by PSG’s Dembele and Vintinha’s goals in the 40th and 54th minute of the match respectively.

Kylian Mbappes’s 61st-minute penalty after Joao Cancelo’s foul on Dembele handed visitors a 5-4 lead on the aggregate and his 89th-minute goal sealed an infamous comeback for the French club handing them a memorable victory. Not many would have believed that they will knock out Barca in that fashion at the Camp Nou, but the Les Parisiens showed their prowess and they now await the German side Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.

Also Read: Harry Kane’s message to Arsenal ahead of Champions League quarter-final