Messi misses penalty as Barcelona crash out of UCL

Barcelona have crashed out of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) after losing 5-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in France.

The Catalonians orchestrated a four-goal turnaround four years ago but they could not repeat the miracle on Wednesday night at the Parc de Princes, wasting goalscoring opportunities especially in the first half — including a Lionel Messi penalty miss.

Barcelona, needing to score at least four goals to have a chance of a comeback and progression, attacked from the blast of the whistle and created several chances that were wasted by Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele while Sergino Dest hit the bar.

It was PSG that however took the lead against the run of play when Clemet Lenglet, Barcelona’s calamitous defender, clipped Mauro Icardi’s leg and VAR awarded the penalty.

Kylian Mbappe dispatched the spot-kick to give PSG the lead that effectively killed the tie before Messi smacked a 25-yard screamer into the top corner in 30 minutes to equalise.

Barcelona continued to dominate chances created with Keylor Navas saving PSG on several occasions including a penalty awarded for handball three minutes before halftime. The Costa Rica international diverted Messi’s spotkick onto the bar and to safety to keep the score level at halftime.

The second period continued just as the first ended with Barca laying siege to PSG’s half but could not fashion chances until the hour mark when PSG had to block Messi’s effort while Dembele could not connect with Jordi Alba’s cross as the Frenchman endured a woeful night.

The full-time confirmed Barcelona’s exit and it will be their first absence from the quarter-finals stage in 14 years since they last failed in 2007.

Liverpool also advanced to the quarter-finals with a 4-0 aggregate win over RB Leipzig.

Mohamed Salah and Saido Mane’s goals pushed the Reds to a 2-0 win in the second leg of the UCL tie played at the Puskas Arena in Budapest due to COVID-19 restrictions.

RESULTS

• Paris Saint-Germain (4) 1-1 (1) Barcelona (PSG win 5-2 on aggregate)
• Liverpool (2) 2-0 (0) RB Leipzig (Liverpool win 4-0 on aggregate)