Barcelona equalled its worst-ever defeat in European competition by being on the wrong end of a 4-0 hammering at the hands of a dominant Paris Saint-Germain side on Tuesday.
Related: Rampant Paris Saint-Germain obliterates Barcelona in historic win
Nothing went right for the Blaugrana: Lionel Messi was shut down, Sergi Roberto was tormented at right-back, and the midfield was completely overrun by the unplayable trio of Marco Verratti, Adrien Rabiot, and Blaise Matuidi.
Here are five photos that perfectly encapsulate Barcelona’s forgettable outing:
Andres Iniesta is 32 years old, and he looked like it today
Lionel Messi was shut down by Presnel Kimpembe (yes, for real)
Neymar put in plenty of effort, but it went for naught
Marc-Andre ter Stegen was helpless in the Barca goal
Luis Enrique will be thinking about this one for a while
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.
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.