Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez on Wednesday hailed his side’s 3-2 win away against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final, saying that it showed the Catalans could once again compete with the best teams in Europe.
“We had time to prepare for this game and everything turned out very well, in defense and in attack,” Xavi said after substitute Andreas Christensen’s 77th-minute header gave Barca the victory at the Parc des Princes. “We are proud of the team. Paris played very well, but we kept their threat to a minimum.”
Raphinha had given the visitors the lead at halftime, only for PSG to turn the game on its head with goals by Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha in the first six minutes after the restart.
Photo: Reuters
However, Raphinha volleyed in a Pedri pass to equalize before Christensen’s winner.
“It is a great victory against one of the best teams in the world. It is very difficult to defend against this team because of how they press you, but we did it very well,” said Xavi, whose side are unbeaten in 12 games since he announced he would depart at the season’s end.
“We are only halfway there though and it will be very difficult in Barcelona,” he added.
Photo: Reuters
The Catalans are appearing in the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since 2020, when they lost 8-2 on aggregate to Bayern Munich in Lisbon, and since Lionel Messi left the club.
It is their first away win in the knockout phase of the competition since 2019.
“The players believe in themselves,” Xavi said as he looked ahead to the return leg in Montjuic, Spain, on Tuesday next week. “They have this opportunity and if they play in the same way they will get chances. Nothing is done, but we can be proud. This match shows that Barca are very much alive.”
It was a disappointing night for PSG, with Kylian Mbappe for once failing to deliver on a big occasion.
However, he scored a hat-trick on the French club’s last visit to Barcelona in the competition in 2021 and their coach, Luis Enrique, is optimistic that they can still progress.
“Congratulations to Barca for the victory. I think we could have got a different result, but we accept the scoreline tonight and are focused on turning it around,” he said after PSG suffered their first defeat since losing 2-1 away to AC Milan in the group stage in early November last year.
“I have no doubt that we can turn it around and that we will. That is my objective,” Enrique added.
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