Paris Saint Germain proceeded from behind twice to draw by 2-2 against the Catalans at the Parc des Princes.
Xavi Hernandez spearheaded Barcelona by giving the penalty shot in the 89th minute following Zlatan Ibrahimovic cancelled out Messi’s first-half opener. The blow for the Spanish league leaders was due to conceding late. However, the two goals gave them the potential to come back.
Unfortunately, Barcelona saw injuries to its top players. Centre-half Javier Mascherano left the field in the second half due to injury while Messi could not return after the break due to hamstring injury.
Roura disclosed to the press after the game that Messi had a minor hamstring problem. Coach Tito Vilanova returned to the bench after spending two months in New York undergoing cancer treatment. He added that they will be able to know more about the injury today. He revealed that Messi was walking without any problem as he proceeded through the mixed zone following the match. Also, Mascherano has a knee ligament injury and will not be available for four to six weeks. He added that they will try to ensure that such injuries do not affect the second leg and assured the return at next week in Camp Nou. He admitted that they are two very crucial players for them and has a big team in which they will be adding capable players.
The match had some unusual decisions. Barcelona was not glad with the standing of Ibrahimovic's strike in the 79th minute. According to them, German referee Wolfgang Stark should not have allowed the goal for offside. Roura opined that the were decisions prepared by the referee which could at least be contested. He also added that he was not amazed by the struggling and direct nature of PSG. Roura knew that the opponent had great players so they were expecting a difficult game but they were confident that they can get through the second leg which their fans can witness.
Ancelotti judged that he could not blame his team's performance, but regretted Starks's decision to award the visitors a late penalty and admitted that the net result left his team with a lot of work to perform in exchange. He opined that it was not a good result. He appreciated their excellent game in the first half and the two goals they compromised were gifts. The first goal was given to Messi and the second was a gift by the referee. He does not think that it was a penalty. He thinks that Sanchez was looking for the contact from Sirigu. They have experience with him as he dived when they played friendly match with them in August. Besides being discontented, the former AC Milan and Chelsea boss believes that his team can oust Barcelona in the second leg. He is aware that one has to defend against Barcelona but when one gets the ball, he has the opportunity to attack and be dangerous. Anyway, he is confident that they can do something there.
We can conclude from the above that, Barca’s assistant coach Jordi Roura shunned down the apprehension of fitness of Lionel Messi on Tuesday while Paris Saint-Germain coach Carlo Ancelotti believed that his team can get victory in Champions League quarterfinal tie.
