It was the final kick of the match when Blaise Matuidi gave Paris Saint-Germain the encouragement to believe this tie may not be over. His shot took a slight yet decisive deflection off the nearest defender and Victor Valdés in Barcelona's goal could not improvise quickly enough to stop it squirming over the line. The drama had been unremitting in the final stages and the last act came so late there was not even time for the match to kick off again.
For Barcelona, they will also have to consider the possibility that Lionel Messi will not take any part at Camp Nou on Wednesday next week because of the hamstring problem that cut his night short. Javier Mascherano will definitely be missing after one booking too many, though damaged knee ligaments would have ruled him out anyway.Messi, even on a night when he lasted only the first half, still made a significant contribution, scoring the opening goal after a sublime pass from Dani Alves, the game's outstanding performer.Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised in the 79th minute, albeit from an offside position, but Carlo Ancelotti's side almost contrived to throw it away when their goalkeeper, Salvatore Sirigu, brought down Alexis Sánchez to give Xavi the chance to restore the lead from the penalty spot.
Barcelona should still be regarded as the favourites but any sense of satisfaction has to be tempered by the knowledge that Xavi Hernández's penalty to make it 2-1 had come in the 89th minute of normal time. From that position a side of this refinement will consider it wasteful not to have finished the job.
The match ended 2-2 at the Parc des Princes, Paris
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