Paris Saint-Germain 1-3 Barcelona: Five Talking Points

Barcelona virtually ensured a place in the last four of this season’s Champions League as they thumped a subdued PSG 3-1 at Parc de Princes on a night that was lit up by the brilliance of Luis Suarez. The visitors’ high pressing right from the start threw the French champions into a tizzy and they succumbed to the pressure as early as 18th minute when Lionel Messi fed Neymar from the edge of the area, and the latter slotted home a sublime left-footed effort to give the Catalans an early lead.In-form striker Luis Suarez then doubled the lead midway in the second half with a superb solo goal and capped off an amazing evening in Paris when he blasted a shot into the top right corner to put the tie effectively beyond PSG’s clasp. Although the home team pulled one back after Van der Wiel’s effort deflected off Jeremy Mathieu’s foot, it came as a mere consolation as the damage had already been done.Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 Barcelona stifles Laurent Blanc\'s PSG

It is the habit of FC Barcelona to keep as much possession as possible. It has been the drill for a long time now. No matter who is at the control deck, Barca’s philosophy hasn’t changed and probably never will. So seeing them executing it here at Parc de Princes was no big deal.

Their possession allowed them to take control of the ball for a large chunk of the game and dictated the terms to the hosts who, as a result, had very few chances. Although the ploy isn't something the French champs are used to seeing against them, particularly in their own backyard, manager Laurent Blanc clearly knew that was coming and allowed the visitors to have the ball and hit them on the break.

It was a brave move by the Frenchman, but it failed to yield dividends as Barcelona proved to be too strong.