Pre-match footage shows PSG players discussing potential of heavy defeat to Barcelona
Blaise Matuidi and Julian Draxler admit that they would be content with losing 5-1 at the Nou Camp and still qualifying for the quarter-finals
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Your support makes all the difference.Footage has emerged of four Paris Saint-Germain players foreshadowing their heavy Champions League last-16 second leg defeat to Barcelona.
Marco Verratti, Julian Draxler, Blaise Matuidi and Thomas Meunier are shown in conversation while eating in Paris pizzeria, in two films made by the YouTube channel 'Bros. Stories'.
The films, made sometime between PSG’s emphatic 4-0 first-leg win and Wednesday’s 6-1 capitulation, feature the four teammates talking about food, the size of the Nou Camp pitch and their previous experiences in the Champions League.
Conversation soon turns to their chances of progressing to this season’s quarter-finals and whether they could stomach a heavy defeat against Barcelona.
Verratti asks: “If we lose 5-1 but we’re through, are you happy or not?” Meunier says he would be ‘p*****’, while Draxler and Matuidi both admit they would be happy.
“If I would have been told that before the first leg I would have been happy, but now I would be pissed,” replies Verratti.
Meunier then explains his reasoning, saying: “Yes you’re through but people will be like: ‘Well PSG you see, we thought they were strong but they lost 5-1 in Barcelona, it’s not OK.”
When asked by Matuidi whether he would prefer to score quickly or go into the break with the score at 0-0, Meunier says Barcelona have “no choice but to attack. We must put pressure on them.”
Draxler then adds: “I think we will score in the first half.”
Unai Emery’s side ultimately scored an away goal in the second half, and Edinson Cavani’s strike seemed as though it would be enough to take them through.
However, a Neymar-inspired seven-minute comeback from Barcelona resulted in a 6-1 scoreline on the night and the Catalans went through to the quarter-finals.
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