Barcelona made history Tuesday, but there won’t be any plaques at the Camp Nou to commemorate this record.
The Blaugrana were eviscerated by Paris Saint-Germain, the French side battering Luis Enrique’s men in every facet of the game to claim an astonishing 4-0 victory in the opening leg of the heavyweight Round of 16 encounter.
Related – Watch: Di Maria, PSG pile misery onto Barcelona with another beauty
The crushing setback equals Barcelona’s record for the heaviest defeat ever suffered by the Catalan side in European competition.
4 – No side has ever overturned a 4+ goal deficit to progress in the Champions League knockout stages. Massacre.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang outdid himself, just when it seemed things couldn’t get worse for the Borussia Dortmund striker.
After missing a series of close-range chances before Benfica grabbed the lead, Aubameyang had a chance to get his side back into the contest after being trusted with taking a penalty shortly after halftime.
But staying true to his poor form throughout the contest, Aubameyang unleashed a dreadful penalty in which Benfica netminder Ederson Moraes easily turned away to help his side retain the first-leg advantage.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will reward backup goalkeeper David Ospina for his earlier European endeavours with a continued starting berth at Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Petr Cech will be dropped to the bench for the encounter, with the French manager citing the “quality” of Ospina’s performances during the group stage as the reason for his inclusion from the first whistle in the huge Round of 16 tilt.
Ospina, 28, is usually reserved for the cup competitions by Wenger, but his selection has been gratefully received by large sections of the Arsenal support. Not only was the Colombian ever-present as the Gunners went unbeaten and finished top of Group A, but he has also been ushered into the lineup when Cech has faced some criticism.
The Czech Republic international’s agent, Viktor Kolar, recently insisted his client wouldn’t be leaving the Emirates Stadium in the summer following his blunder against former club Chelsea, when he inadvertently teed up ex-teammate Cesc Fabregas for the Blues’ third in a 3-1 win.
(Photo courtesy: Reuters)
Ospina has faced vilification himself in the past, predominantly due to his relative lack of height – he stands at six-feet – apparently leaving him susceptible at set-pieces. He has shown some fantastic athleticism for both Arsenal and Colombia, however.
Arsenal has been eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League by Bayern on three occasions since 2005, but winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who’s put in some admirable performances as a fill-in defensive midfielder in his last two outings, says his side has a chance.
“They’re a very good team, but so are we if we play as good as we can on the day,” he told the club website. “We can cause them enough troubles and go on and win. Obviously we’ve had a few good experiences at the Allianz too. I think we’ve drawn once, a tough game and obviously we’ve won there.
“So we’ve proved enough to ourselves over the years that we’re good enough to come away with the right result, we just need to focus on how we’re going to do it and come up with the plan and then it’s all about delivering on the day and that’s going to be the difference.”
Following the trip to German giant Bayern, Arsenal travels to 5,000-capacity Gander Green Lane to take on non-league Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.
Sixteen teams remain in contention for the the 2016-17 Champions League crown, and over the next two weeks, those clubs will play the first leg of their respective ties, with plenty of star power on offer across the board.
Here are five key battles to watch in the Round of 16:
Reunited: Umtiti vs. Cavani
In this clash of giants, Paris Saint-Germain’s Edinson Cavani takes on a familiar foe in former Lyon defender Samuel Umtiti, who is likely to start alongside Gerard Pique for Barcelona in the absence of Javier Mascherano. You could call it a reunion, but the two meet under very new circumstances.
Cavani is now free of the shadow cast by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and has notched 33 goals in all competitions as PSG’s new target-man. He is no longer limited to a wing role and, as such, center-back Umtiti will need to deal with the Uruguayan directly, rather than rely on his full-backs.
Exposed: Insigne vs. Danilo
Napoli hasn’t missed a beat since Gonzalo Higuain left, with Dries Mertens and Marek Hamsik performing wonderfully and Arkadiusz Milik helping fill the void before his untimely injury. A meeting with goal-heavy Real Madrid might be a nightmare for both goalkeepers.
But the real battle isn’t central, due in part to the abundance of quality from both sides in their cores; it’s out wide, where Lorenzo Insigne will be tasked with besting Madrid right-back Danilo in the absence of Dani Carvajal. Danilo has looked suspect at times, a flaw Napoli will look to exploit.
Heavyweights: Boateng vs. Sanchez
Bayern Munich and Arsenal meet in a repeat of last year’s Group F encounters, and while the German outfit certainly got the better of the Gunners with a 5-1 win at the Allianz Arena, things have changed considerably for Arsene Wenger’s side. Most notably, Alexis Sanchez has been moved to centre-forward.
Since making the switch, the Chile international has enjoyed a prosperous scoring streak in the Premier League, notching 17 goals this season. He’ll be a handful for Jerome Boateng, who handled Olivier Giroud well enough last year, but could face a different, if not more difficult test this time around.
Trapped: Monaco wingers vs. City’s full-backs
Pep Guardiola is perhaps a little unsure of how to line up his back-four for Manchester City’s upcoming match against AS Monaco. Against Swansea, he opted to use defensive midfielder Fernandinho as a right full-back, and against Bournemouth, he went one step further, placing the Brazilian at left full-back.
Whichever side Fernandinho ends up playing, he’ll have to deal with a tricky and pacey winger; the likes of Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva, and Kylian Mbappe have all been outstanding this season. With Falcao and Valere Germain prowling the box, getting exposed out wide could prove costly for City. For all his positives, Fernandinho is not a natural in this position.
Worthy: Soares vs. Bonucci
City may be enjoying the advent of newcomer Gabriel Jesus but FC Porto has its own fresh Brazilian signing to celebrate in Francisco Soares, known as Tiquinho. The 26-year-old joined the club in the new year and has already made his presence felt, scoring four times in three appearances.
As expected, the hype surrounding him has grown exponentially, but Soares will have his first chance to really turn heads with a solid showing against a competent Juventus backline. The Italian giant boasts one of the finest defensive systems in the world, and while Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini are dealing with injuries, how Soares handles Leonardo Bonucci in particular will be interesting to see.
