L’Equipe praised Kylian Mbappé for making Barcelona “his garden” as Paris Saint-Germain completed a stunning comeback to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
But there was no such praise for Xavi and his players as the Catalans imploded in spectacular fashion after a man was sent off on Tuesday night.
French newspaper ratings can be notoriously tough and Barcelona averaged just 4.2 out of 10 after being knocked out of Europe with a 4-1 home defeat in the second leg of the quarter-finals.
Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Joao Cancelo were the worst players, with a 3 out of 10, the same rating as Xavi.
Lewandowski’s 1-0 failure against Barcelona was one of the ‘turning points of the match’, according to L’Equipe.
Xavi received a rating of 3 out of 10 from L’Equipe after Barcelona lost 4-1 at home to PSG.
Robert Lewandowski was one of three Barcelona players to receive a rating of 3 out of 10
Kylian Mbappé was one of the four PSG players who obtained a grade of 8 out of 10 after scoring two goals.
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Meanwhile, Cancelo endured a “night to forget” after conceding a second-half penalty for a foul on Ousmane Dembélé, while Kounde was “mistreated like the rest of his teammates.”
Barcelona won the first leg 3-2 at the Parc des Princes last week and extended their lead early in the second leg, with Raphinha pushing home Lamine Yamal’s cross after 12 minutes.
It was the perfect start for Barcelona, but the tone of the match changed dramatically on the half-hour when Ronald Araujo was adjudged to have brought down Bradley Barcola just before bursting into the area.
PSG restored parity just before half-time thanks to a clever finish from Dembélé, and were level on aggregate 10 minutes into the second half when Vitinha’s shot sailed through a crowd of players from the edge of the area and past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
Xavi and Barcelona goalkeeping coach José Ramón De la Fuente Rodrigo were both sent off by Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs. for protesting when another decision went against the hosts.
L’Equipe questioned Xavi’s decision to replace Yamal following Arajuo’s red card but admitted the Spaniard’s plans were complicated by the absence of Andreas Christensen.
Raphinha, who scored twice in the first leg, was Barcelona’s best player on the night, earning a 6 out of 10 for his “combative and moving” contribution.
As expected, the picture was very different for PSG, whose average rating was 7 out of 10. Kylian Mbappé earned a rating of 8 out of 10 after scoring his team’s third and fourth goals.
Raphinha was the only Barcelona player to receive a rating of 6 out of 10
Joao Cancelo also received a 3 out of 10 after committing a penalty in the second half
But Luis Enrique earned a rating of 8 out of 10 for turning the tie around after PSG lost 4-2 on aggregate at the start of the second leg.
“He was expected to be the savior and finally he was,” wrote L’Equipe, noting that Barcelona was now “his garden” after the French star scored a hat-trick at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the round of 16. at the end. years ago.
Barcola, Vitinha and Dembélé also received a grade of 8 out of 10, as did Marquinhos, who put in a “captain’s performance” and smothered Lewandowski throughout the match.
There was also high praise for Luis Enrique, who became the first coach since Mauricio Pochettino three years ago to lead PSG to the Champions League semi-final.
L’Equipe praised the Spaniard for keeping his promise that his team would qualify.
“When you build a coherent team by putting players in their positions, you immediately see the difference,” he wrote.