PSG Youngster ‘Tortured’ Barcelona Defense in Second Leg, Pundit Says

Paris Saint-Germain forward Bradley Barcola is one of the standouts from the second-leg win over FC Barcelona last Tuesday. Furthermore, one expert believes that the former Olympique Lyonnais player made life difficult for the Spanish giants. 

Barcola assisted on the goal from Ousmane Dembélé to level the scoring 1-1. However, the 21-year-old’s most important play in the contest came earlier when Ronald Araújo committed a foul on him midway through the first half. 

As a result, the Uruhuyan defender received a red card and Barcelona played the rest of the game with ten men. While Dembélé received Player of the Game honors, French football expert Bixente Lizarazu believes that Barcola was the best player in the contest.

“The three attackers were particularly impressive,” Lizarazu said on Téléfoot (h/t Le10Sport). “Of course, there’s Kylian Mbappé’s brace, which was highly anticipated, the match amidst the jeers for Ousmane Dembélé, but the one who impressed me the most was Barcola. 

“He was decisive. Araújo’s expulsion was as good as a goal, it was decisive. After that, PSG found themselves in a much more favorable situation. It’s true that his dribbles, his drive, his speed tortured the entire Barcelona defense.”

Barcola is finding his confidence late in the season and this bodes well for the Ligue 1 giants. The Parisians have the Coupe de France Final against Lyon and face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semifinal. If the capital club want to lift both trophies, they’ll need contributions from Barcola.