George Weah to Lionel Messi: Best PSG-Barcelona duels

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  • Barcelona and PSG have had memorable players and memorable battles in Europe.

    Paris Saint-Germain face Barcelona at Parc des Princes on Wednesday in the Champions League quarter-finals after crossing swords in the group stages.

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    The two sides had been paired in Group F and both won at home, Barcelona securing top spot after a convincing 3-1 win at Camp Nou.

    The nascent rivalry between the clubs has involved some of the greatest names in world football since their first encounter in 1995. Sport360 takes a look at the legendary figures who stamped their authority on these clashes.

    1995 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS           

    Twenty years ago, PSG and Barcelona meet for the first time in the 1995 Champions League. The Catalans are slowly coming to the end of an era, having lost in the final to AC Milan the previous season. The departure of key men Michael Laudrup, Julio Salinas and Andoni Goikoetxea compounds the impression that Johann Cruyff – manager since 1988 and having brought the club a first European Cup trophy four years later – might be at the end of a cycle.

    Barcelona's Ronald Koeman tackles PSG's David Ginola, with Pep Guardiola looking on.

    The first leg takes place at Camp Nou on March 1, 1995. Barca wear their traditional home colours while PSG don their inverted Hechter, white red and blue away jersey.

    The first half is one-sided with the Blaugranas dominating proceedings through Pep Guardiola, Cruyff’s reference point in midfield, and Hristo Stoichkov up front.

    PSG hold on but Barcelona’s persistence comes to fruition early in the second half. Russian midfielder Igor Korneev breaks the deadlock after 48 minutes with a quick run down the right wing, followed with a shot which PSG goalkeeper Bernard Lama fumbles into his own net.

    Barcelona lose steam afterwards though and PSG strike back in the 54th minute through a George Weah header. The PSG striker, who will go on to win the Ballon d’Or, runs the full length of the pitch to celebrate with Bernard Lama, at fault for the opener.

    Weah’s seventh goal in the competition furthers his lead atop the Champions League goalscoring table. His celebration however typifies PSG’s team mentality.

    With Guardiola suspended, and a 1-1 first leg draw, PSG are in the front seat to reach the semi-final.

    The second leg, however goes down in history for other reasons. The Catalans stay at the Trianon Palace in Versailles and leave on the morning of the game heading to Parc des Princes. A new guest inherits the room freshly occupied by Johann Cruyff, who inadvertently forgot his pre-game notes on a desk.

    A football fan himself, the client deciphers their content and sends them to France Football magazine, who release them a week later with the sensationalist headline ‘Barca’s secret notebooks’.

    Les carnets secrets du Barça, France Football (March 28, 1995)

    These notes compiled by Cruyff and his assistant coach Tony Bruins Slot are an insight into the opposition scouting methods of old, long before computers became the norm in performance analysis with their cutting-edge statistical software.

    Cruyff and Slot dissect every PSG attack and make drawings every potential threat with basic arrows and squares. They put a particular emphasis on Brazil captain Rai’s dangerous near-post runs at corners.

    Furthermore, Slot writes up individual profiles of every PSG player, describing their every strength and weakness

    George Weah is described as a “strong African striker” who can “turn around quickly in small spaces” but “only uses his left foot to walk “. David Ginola is “an enfant terrible (sic) who is fragile mentally” yet remains “technically gifted with his trademark cutting inside from the left wing”.

    Johann Cruyff's tactical drawings.

    The extent of Cruyff’s thoroughness is unveiled, although the Dutchman always pretended to prefer focusing on his teams’ strengths rather than his opponents’ weaknesses. These methods would later influence all of his players who would later go into coaching, from Guardiola to Ronald Koeman.

    As fate would have it, PSG’s first goal later that evening is a Rai header at the near post following a Valdo corner. PSG dominate the first half, hitting the woodwork four times before Barcelona manage a goal against the run of play early in the second half through Bakero. Rai’s equalizer quells Barca’s hopes before midfielder Vincent Guérin, whom Slot compared to former PSV midfielder Edward Linskens in his report, describing him as a “box-to-box diesel”, dares to shoot from distance and score his most famous goal.

    Barcelona crash out of the competition and end the season at a modest fourth spot in La Liga, the legendary Cruyff setting sail after eight memorable years at the helm at Camp Nou.

    PSG go on to exit the competition in the semi-final against AC Milan, who had beaten Barcelona the previous season and who take George Weah with them the following summer.  

    First leg starting line-ups

    BARCELONA : Busquets, Koeman, Ferrer, Sergi, Guardiola, Bakero, Iglesias, José Mari, Begiristain, Stoichkov, Korneev. 
    Head coach: Johann Cruyff

    PSG : Lama, Cobos, Kombouaré, Roche, Colleter, Le Guen, Guérin, Valdo, Bravo, Weah, Ginola.
    Head coach: Luis Fernandez

    1997 CUP WINNERS’ CUP FINAL

    The now defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup once pitted all European domestic cup competition winners into one single tournament – between 1960 and 1999.

    Barcelona and PSG crossed swords in the 1997 final. Two years after their memorable Champions League encounter, both sides look rather dissimilar to what they once were. The build-up is marred by another hotel controversy as both teams make reservations at the same Rotterdam hotel, only for PSG to occupy it first – leaving furious Catalans to look for another place elsewhere in town.

    The antagonism between both teams reaches a new high when they are unable to agree on which jersey they will wear. UEFA intervene and decree that both sides wear their away kit, green for Barcelona, white and red for PSG.

    Bobby Robson and his 34-year-old Portuguese assistant José Mourinho have succeeded Johann Cruyff on the sidelines. However Barcelona’s style has not changed and the Catalans secure long spells of possession in the first half.

    Gheorghe Hagi and Robert Prosinecki have departed, following on from Laudrup the year before. New reinforcements have arrived from across Europe, from Luis Enrique at Real Madrid to Laurent Blanc at Montpellier.

    Ronaldo scored 34 goals in his first season for Barcelona.

    One particular player will however stand out and make an instant impact, leaving a lasting mark on world football : Ronaldo Luis Nazario de Lima.

    Joining from PSV Eindhoven in July 1996, the Brazilian wonderkid scores 34 league goals in his debut season – picking up the Ballon d’Or at the end of 1997.

    The Parisians have mandated three players to look after him : Vincent Guérin, who scored the winning goal in the Champions League quarter-final two years before ; Paul Le Guen, a long-time PSG servant who would make 344 appearances before retiring in 1998 ; and Bruno N’Gotty, whose long-range shot brought PSG the Cup Winners’ Cup trophy the previous year in what remains the club’s only European silverware to date.

    After half an hour however, N’Gotty brings down Ronaldo in the box. The Brazilian converts from the spot kick – the only goal of the game.

    Barcelona win 1-0 and PSG become the last victim of the competition’s famous jinx that no title holder can retain the trophy. The Cup Winners’ Cup has now disappeared but the jinx has survived in the UEFA Champions League.

    Starting line-ups

    Barcelona : Vitor Baia, Ferrer, Abelardo, Popescu, Sergi, Guardiola, De La Pena, Fernando Couto, Luis Enrique, Figo, Ronaldo.
    Head coach : Bobby Robson.

    PSG : Lama, Fournier, N'Gotty, Le Guen, Domi, Leroy, Guerin, Rai, Cauet, Loko, Leonardo.
    Head coach : Ricardo.

    2013 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINALS

    PSG’s enduring slump in the 2000s means fewer opportunities to take part in European competitions and a 16-year wait before both sides meet again.

    The arrival of Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) at the helm of the French side heralds a new era of investment, with a total of Dhs996 million (€255m) spent from 2011-13 to build a competitive squad. The likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Edinson Cavani are captured in line with QSI’s strategy.

    This sweeping re-branding tries to rely on elements from the PSG of yesteryear, embodied by Leonardo as sporting director, 15 years after starting in the Cup Winners’ Cup final.

    David Beckham started for PSG against Barcelona in 2013.

    Innovative commercial practices have appeared when weighing up a transfer : David Beckham’s six-month loan corresponds to PSG’s desire to raise the club’s profile beyond European borders. The 37-year-old starts the quarter-final in front of the defence, against the finest holding midfield in modern football: Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets.

    This Barcelona generation has two Champions League trophies (2009 and 2011) to its name. Its tiki-taka style is revered across the continent and can be traced back to Cruyff’s rudimentary drawings at the basis of which was Guardiola, the player-turned-coach who orchestrated this era of success as manager with 14 titles won in just four years.

    When Barcelona travel to Parc des Princes, however,  it is his former assistant Tito Vilanova who has been promoted to head coach. The team has the same core and philosophy and the same star man up front : Lionel Messi, winner of four straight Ballon d’Or trophies from 2009 to 2012.

    Despite numerous opportunities, PSG go behind just before the break and only equalise with 79 minutes on the clock, taking advantage of a slight lack of concentration from the Barcelona defence.

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who left the Catalan side two years earlier with negative feelings about Guardiola’s coaching, leads his side by example but Barcelona take the lead again moments before full time with a Xavi Hernandez penalty.

    As almost two decades before, however, the Blaugranas flounder once more after taking the lead, allowing Blaise Matuidi to level the scoreline with a deflected shot in stoppage time.

    A similarly even return leg witnesses PSG temporarily taking control through Javier Pastore before an injured Messi comes off the bench to create the equaliser nine minutes after his introduction and secure an away goals’ victory for the Catalans.

    Barcelona progress to a record sixth consecutive Champions League semi-final, one which they perhaps would have preferred to avoid with the benefit of hindsight – losing 7-0 to Bayern Munich across two legs.

    First leg starting line-ups

    PSG : Sirigu – Jallet, Alex, Thiago Silva (c), Maxwell – Matuidi, Beckham, Pastore, Lucas – Lavezzi, Ibrahimovic. 
    Head coach: Carlo Ancelotti

    Barcelona : Valdés – Dani Alves, Piqué, Mascherano, Jordi Alba – Busquets, Iniesta, Xavi (c) – Sanchez, Villa, Messi.
    Head coach : Tito Vilanova

    This article was composed with the kind assistance of Philippe Auclair. 

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