Ruthless PSG Massacre Barca In Paris
By Andah John with agency report
Birthday boys Angel Di Maria scored a brace while Edinson Cavani had one as ruthless Paris Saint-Germain sensationally destroyed Barcelona 4-0 in Paris in their Champions League last 16 first leg on Tuesday.
Di Maria opened the scoring in the 18th minute and curled in another 10 minutes into the second half to celebrate his 29th birthday in style.
Cavani, on the other hand, marked his 30th birthday by adding his name to the scoresheet in the 71st minute in the French capital.
New signing Julian Draxler also had his name counted among the scorers.
Barcelona were thoroughly outplayed and outclassed. It was their heaviest defeat in Europe since losing 7-0 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in the semi-finals in 2013.
Unless the five-time European champions can pull off a miraculous escape in the second leg at the Camp Nou next month, they are staring at a first exit from the competition before the quarter-finals in a decade.
PSG had twice been eliminated from the Champions League at the hands of Barcelona in the last four seasons, and the Catalans also had a fearsome record in games against sides coached by Emery, losing just one of 23 before this.
But Luis Enrique’s team, for all the brilliance of Lionel Messi, have recently looked more fragile than in a long time and the French champions showed no fear, as expected.
