Suárez at the double as Barcelona beat Paris
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Article summary
Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 FC Barcelona
Two second-half goals from Luis Suárez consigned Paris to their first home defeat of the season, leaving Barça on the brink of the last four.
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Article body
• Luis Suárez scores twice to inflict first home defeat of the season on Paris
• The quarter-final first leg as it happened at the Parc des Princes
• Zlatan Ibrahimović among three suspended for Paris; Thiago Silva limps off early
• Exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from the first leg
• The second leg takes place next Tuesday, with the semi-final draw on Friday
Luis Suárez claimed two second-half goals to leave FC Barcelona well set for a seventh UEFA Champions League semi-final in eight years.
Paris were unbeaten in 24 home matches on all fronts going into the first leg but that record was decimated here. Barcelona were leading through Neymar's early effort when Luis Suárez took the headlines with two fine strikes in 13 second-half minutes heralding a 3-1 win.
The first came from the right as he cut into the box, nutmegging David Luiz as he did so, then outmuscled Maxwell before firing inside the near post. With 11 minutes to go he scored again, playing a one-two with Javier Mascherano, once more slipping the ball between Luiz's legs, before a sumptuous finish into the top corner. Jérémy Mathieu's own goal did little to take the gloss off.
Laurent Blanc spoke on the eve of the game about using September's 3-2 home victory over Barcelona – the first of what is now three meetings between the sides this season – as the benchmark. It was soon apparent that the visitors possessed a very different blueprint. Messi served warning, swivelling on the edge of the area and bending a shot past the back-tracking Maxwell and onto the post; and Luis Enrique's Blaugrana forged ahead on 18 minutes.
The move started innocuously enough, with Sergio Busquets catching Adrien Rabiot in possession tight to the touchline near halfway. Barcelona's transition from defence to attack was withering. The tackle fell to Andrés Iniesta and he fed Messi, who hustled and bustled before placing the ball into the path of Neymar. The Brazilian, with Gregory van der Wiel trailing in his wake, coolly slotted in under Salvatore Sirigu.
It was not what Blanc wished to see, nor was the sight before the restart of Thiago Silva joining him on the bench with a knock. With Zlatan Ibrahimović among three suspended for Paris, it was the last thing the hosts needed; on came Luiz, a huge pre-match doubt with a hamstring problem.
All was not lost, though. The lively Blaise Matuidi had carved out a decent early chance that Javier Pastore fluffed. The France midfielder was also the instigator around the half-hour as he broke, sending Ezequiel Lavezzi scurrying down the left. For a moment PSG looked to have men over but Edinson Cavani could not profit, Mascherano timing his tackle to perfection.
Paris had been here before. They trailed Chelsea FC three times in the last 16 but still went through. Pastore and Rabiot tested Marc-André ter Stegen as the second half got under way yet an uphill struggle became treacherous when Suárez waltzed in to make it 2-0.
The Uruguayan's second of the night left Paris with a mountain to climb though they are at least clinging on after Van der Wiel's speculative attempt took a wicked deflection off substitute Mathieu and ballooned in.
