French Clubs

As much as last night’s result in Paris could be interpreted as a changing of the guard, the five-time European champions Barcelona being entirely dominated by the upstart Paris Saint-Germain, a club whose best performance in the Champions League was a semifinal appearance in 1995, it says a lot about the inarguable staying power of Barca that many are already talking about the approach PSG should take at the Camp Nou.

You’d have to go all the way back to the 2006-07 season for the last time Barcelona failed to advance beyond the Champions League round of 16, but that streak is in extreme danger following a 4-0 thumping at the Parc des Princes.

Barcelona almost certainly needed to salvage an away goal before the March 8 return leg at the Camp Nou, but PSG simply outclassed Barcelona around the park on a night that will live long in the memories of PSG supporters.

Angel Di Maria has scored another sensational strike to put PSG up 3-0 over Barcelona in the 55th minute. Barca look completely shell shocked following a left-footed attempt from the Argentine that flew into the corner.

Can you feel the love, Paris?

Barcelona have chosen the absolute worst moment to put in one of their most carless performances of the season. They’ve given the ball away and been unable to play with a rampant PSG side that finds themselves up 2-0 at half. While Barca have been awful, PSG have been simply brilliant, dominating the Catalans in every aspect of the game. PSG have launched 11 shots in the first half, putting seven on target.

Paris Saint-Germain have taken an early lead over Barcelona in their Champions League round of 16 first leg at the Parc des Princes. PSG have been all over Barca in the early stages, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen did well to save from Blaise Matuidi in the 11th minute.

However, PSG found the opener after Julian Draxler was taken down on top of the box. Angel Di Maria stepped up and sent a curling effort near the right-hand corner. Luis Suarez completely neglected his responsibility in the wall and Der Stegen was beaten. 

It’s a familiar scenario for Paris Saint-Germain: on a quest for European dominance and validation as one of the world’s top clubs, but Barcelona stand in their way. Barca eliminated PSG at the quarterfinal stage of both the 2012-13 and 2014-15 Champions League. 

The NWSL could use a positive headline in the next few weeks. First, the NWSL lost its biggest star in Alex Morgan, who is moving to play at Lyon through the summer. Her parent club, the Orlando Pride, will open their brand new stadium without their biggest attraction. 

Replacing Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his 2015-16 tally of 44 goals for Paris St-Germain was always going to be impossible, but the club couldn’t have foreseen the transition being this painful. The numbers indicating the decline of PSG’s attack are staggering: last season, they scored 102 league goals. This year, they’re on pace for 76.

While the defense has already surrendered 15 goals at the halfway point of the season as compared to 19 throughout the entirety of 2015-16, it’s the lack of offensive firepower that is clearly troubling owners Qatar Sports Investments.