Menzi Magubane
Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe is the man that will certainly give Barcelona defenders sleepless nights ahead of two encounters on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League last 16.
But the big question is: can Barcelona stage yet another comeback as they did back in 2017 in their famous La Remontanda (“The comeback”)?
These two giants of Europe will face off again in the second round at Paris’s Parc des Princes at 10pm. PSG have a precious 4-1 lead from the first leg in Barcelona on February 16.
Before last month, the last time these two met was in 2017. Barca overcame a four-goal deficit in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie to win 6-5 on aggregate. This was the largest comeback in the competition’s history, known as La Remontanda (“The comeback”).
The likes of Mbappe, who was playing for Monaco at the time, would like to make sure that doesn’t happen again. The 22-year-old was a nightmare for Barca’s defenders at Camp Nou, especially for the experienced Gerrard Pique, who had no answers on how to stop the speedy striker.
On that night Mbappe scored three goals and was man of the match. He also walked away with a game ball.
When the draw was conducted in December soccer pundits highlighted the clash as Lionel Messi versus Neymar. Unfortunately the Brazilian striker got injured a week before the first leg and missed the return to Camp Nou for the first since he left in 2018.
The 29-year-old returned to partial training with the PSG squad last week. The club however have confirmed that Neymar will continue his fitness work individually, therefore again missing out against his former club.
The other match playing in England will see Liverpool welcoming the German club RB Leipzig at Anfield at 10pm. The home team have a comfortable 2-0 lead from their away game in Germany last month.
The Germans, however, would definitely fancy their chances with Liverpool having a poor run of form at home this season.
Picture source: @MadridFC
