Neymar, Messi, Ter Stegen lift Barcelona to greatest comeback in Champions League history

Sergi Roberto’s last gasp winner against Paris Saint Germain became an instantly legendary moment that Barcelona fans will cherish forever. Although the Camp Nou faithful are aware that qualifying for the Champions League quarterfinals is not a huge achievement in itself, the players’ determination to complete the biggest ever comeback in the biggest club competition in world football was impressive.

While it came down to Sergi Roberto to seal the historic win, the La Masia graduate was certainly not the only player to excel in Barcelona’s most important game of the season.

Neymar was, without a shadow of a doubt, the leader who took the Catalan giants to victory. His premonitory ‘1% chance, 99% faith’ tweet before the ball started rolling at the Camp Nou could not have been more fitting for the excellent performance that followed.

The Brazilian star proved a constant nightmare that the astounded Parisian back-line simply had no answer for. His astute positioning, magical dribbling and blistering runs from the left wing kept rivals chasing shadows from the initial whistle. Perhaps more importantly, the No.11 picked his teammates up with not only words of encouragement, but also two goals and a golden assist in a memorable last seven minutes to be proud of.

Similarly to Neymar, Lionel Messi was simply unstoppable. The passionate way in which the quadruple Ballon d’Or winner celebrate Sergi Roberto’s goal was a fitting finale for yet another individual display to remember. Despite being surrounded by up to four players at times, the diminutive Argentinean always seemed to find a way to break free and connect with either Neymar or the inspired Luis Suarez. Without Messi’s tenacious attitude and ambition, it is clear that PSG would have comfortably achieved qualification for the next round.

Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to mention Marc Andre Ter Stegen. The German stopper quickly picked his teammates up following Edison Cavani’s away goal by audibly screaming: “We will win. We will win! We never die, we are Barcelona!” Not happy with that, the No.1 went on to make a couple of impossible saves which kept Barca’s chances alive and, ultimately, making their legendary comeback a reality.

Nobody knows what the rest of the season will bring, but I bet on Barcelona lifting their sixth Champions League trophy in Cardiff on 3rd June 2017.

Mark my words, Cules!