Ivan Rakitic believes “a miracle” is possible when Barcelona attempt to overturn a 4-0 first leg deficit against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.
No side in Champions League history has ever come back from four goals down, but Barcelona’s hopes were raised by the sensational form of Lionel Messi in Saturday’s 5-0 rout of RC Celta de Vigo.
“We will give everything from the first minute to the last,” Messi told Spanish TV station Movistar. “We will try and hopefully we can produce a miracle.”
Photo: AP
Messi scored two incredible individual goals to open and close the scoring as Barca remained one point clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The five-time FIFA World Player of the Year award winner had a hand in all three other goals too, as he teed up Neymar for a sensational chip and crossed for Samuel Umtiti to score his first Barca goal, while Rakitic was also on the scoresheet.
In their first outing since coach Luis Enrique announced he will step down at the end of the season, Barca produced arguably their best performance of the campaign.
The Catalans also smashed Real Sporting de Gijon 6-1 in their previous outing — both scorelines which would be good enough when PSG visit this week.
And Enrique said he could not have wished for a better build-up to the ultimate challenge.
“That it is one of our best performances in the last few months is without doubt,” he said. “If I had to choose the way in which we would go into the Champions League game against PSG it would be very similar to these last two games: scoring lots of goals, the team gaining confidence and the players getting stronger.”
“I think we are in great form for a very difficult tie, that is not lost yet. I am sure we are going to have opportunities to get ourselves back in it and we will try until the death,” Enrique said.
Enrique’s name was chanted by an enthralled crowd at the Camp Nou on Saturday.
Banners were also raised toward the end of the match willing Barca’s players to believe in the most unlikely of comebacks against PSG.
“The fans value a lot what these players have won, the hunger they have and what they show in every game,” Enrique added. “In my time here I have never once seen a poor attitude in any of my players. Barca fans should be loyal and, above all, have confidence that the team can come back.”
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
SSC Napoli on Sunday joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at title rivals AS Roma, as Inter kept pace with the leading pair by beating Pisa SC 2-0. David Neres stroked home the only goal of a feisty game in the 36th minute at the Stadio Olimpico, ending a blistering counterattack with a calm finish which put Napoli on 28 points. Napoli are behind Milan on goal-difference, and just one point ahead of both Roma and Inter in a tight scudetto battle in which Antonio Conte’s team are to host Juventus at the weekend. “To come to
RSS