While much of the attention following Wednesday’s historic result has focused on Barcelona and its star-studded squad, little consideration has been paid to Paris Saint-Germain on the heels of one of football’s worst collapses.
Related: Barcelona completes greatest-ever Champions League comeback to stun PSG
PSG gaffer Unai Emery was melancholic in addressing the capitulation post-match, while club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi was a bitter cocktail of sorrow and acrimony.
“I can not find the words. We have failed in our mission. Now it’s done. We can do nothing more,” Emery said, courtesy of RMC Sport’s Mohamed Bouhafsi.
Bouhafsi adds that a team employee mentioned Al-Khelaifi’s reaction, saying, “I’ve never seen him like that. His face barren as he looked into the void.”
That reception was prevalent both in the locker room and on the club’s 2:30 a.m. flight back to Paris. Bouhafsi describes a painful silence, where players shocked by the 6-1 result kept to themselves. On the plane, the unnamed PSG staffer describes “the worst after-match atmosphere” and a mood “incomparable to last year after the elimination against Manchester City.”
Thiago Silva, who had a disastrous match, sat silent for the duration of the flight with a …read more