On April 11, Beijing time, in the first leg of the Champions League 1/4 finals, Barcelona reversed Paris Saint-Germain coached by former Barcelona meritorious coach Enrique 3-2 away.
Barcelona scored
Enrique and Xavi are both apprentices and brothers, and when the famous coach Enrique led Barcelona to the Champions League, La Liga and Spanish Copa del Rey in the 2014-2015 season, the older midfield superstar Xavi was reduced to a substitute, and Xavi left Barcelona on a free transfer in the summer of 2015. Xavi and Enrique were not only former Barcelona teammates, but the youngster Xavi and the veteran Enrique also represented Spain in the World Cup in South Korea and Japan 22 years ago. In his pre-match press conference, Enrique said he could represent Barcelona better than Xavi. Xavi responded: "I heard him, this is Enrique. I know him very well and I have a very good personal relationship with him. I respect him, he's one of the best coaches in the world. Pep Guardiola, Enrique, even Mikel Arteta and I all represent Barça's DNA. After the players from both sides entered the pitch, the mentor and apprentice brothers Enrique and Xavi warmly hugged and greeted each other. It seems that in order to represent a purer version of Barcelona's pass-and-control football, Enrique abandoned the main Indian center Ramos and Muani in the starting lineup, and instead arranged for midfielder Asensio to play as a central striker, forming a trident with Mbappe and Barcelona veteran Dembele. Xavi was in a normal line-up, with three strikers Lewandowski, Raphinha, and Yamal starting the line-up.
Barcelona scored
Barcelona took the lead in the 37th minute when Yamal's cross from the right was not far away and Raphinha fired hard to break the deadlock. At the beginning of the second half, Mbappe's low cross from the left caused Barcelona central defender Araujo to clear the ball, and Dembele blasted past the old goal to equalize the score. In the 51st minute, Li Gangren launched an attack on the right side, Ruiz made a direct pass, and Vitinha shot from a small angle for Paris to overtake the score.
Judging from the course of this game, Xavi's coaching level, especially his ability to adjust on the spot, is a step higher, and the players who have just been replaced by him twice have either assists or goals, and Enrique seems to be both stubborn and unexpected. In the 61st minute, Xavi replaced Barcelona captain Roberto with Pedri. In the 62nd minute, Pedri sent a delicate cross, Raphinha burst into the box and fired a cushion to equalise, which was Pedri's first touch of the ball since coming on the field. Xavi made another change in the 76th minute, replacing midfielder Frenkie de Jong with Denmark international Andreas Christensen, who has been transformed by Xavi into a midfielder this season. In the 77th minute, Gundogan took a corner kick and Christensen scored the winning goal for Barcelona with a header, which was also Christensen's first touch of the ball since coming on.
Grand Paris scores
Enrique, on the other hand, showed his stubbornness to the fullest, replacing the underperforming Asensio with winger Barcola at the beginning of the second half, and continued to abandon the central striker. Dembele, who has played as a winger all his life, was placed as a cameo as a central striker, with Barcola playing as a right winger. Sergio Ramos didn't come off the bench until the 85th minute, while Muani was on the bench for the entire game.
Enrique was unconvinced, saying after the game: "I continue to think we will win the second leg in Barcelona. I repeat, we could have won this game. With us 2-1 up, Barcola hit the crossbar with a shot. After the score was 2-2, Dembele's shot was blocked by the post. That's the little details, and hopefully in the second leg, those little details will work in our favor. ”
Grand Paris scores
Enrique's stubbornness is also evident in the use of Mbappe, who has often been substituted or replaced early in recent games, and Enrique's explanation is to let the team adapt to the absence of Mbappe next season. In this game, Mbappe's left side is not the focus of Paris's attack, and it seems that in order to avoid Araujo and Kounde's strong side of Barcelona's defense, Paris focuses its main offensive firepower on its own right side. Mbappe has not been systematic in his recent participation, and this game is not the focus of Enrique's tactical system, coupled with his poor form and mentality, he handed over a dismal report card, with only 3 shots on goal in the whole game, two blocked, 1 miss, only 0.14 expected goals, and only two successes in 10 duels. France coach Didier Deschamps watched the game from the stands and was hardly satisfied with the performance of French captain Kylian Mbappe.
Barcelona scored
The last time Paris challenged Barcelona away was in the first leg of the Champions League 1/8 finals in February 2021, Mbappe scored a hat trick and led Paris to defeat Messi, Dembele, and Griezmann 4-1 to get the quarterfinals in advance. On April 17, in the second leg of this season's Champions League quarterfinals, Grand Paris will once again challenge Barcelona away, can Enrique activate Mbappe?
Proofread by Xu Heng