Tuesday night witnessed the return of Europe’s elite club competition, and unfortunately for Barcelona, it was yet another disastrous knockout stage humbling, as they lost the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 match against Paris Saint Germain in a 4-1 result at home.
Despite what the title might suggest, this article is not meant to rub salt in the wounds of the Catalans, but rather to focus on some other type of blunders committed by certain top Serie A clubs.
Kylian Mbappé was undoubtedly the star of the night, with a stunning hat trick in Marc-André ter Stegen’s net. However, Les Parisiens also had three Italian starters who helped them achieve the victory.
Marco Verratti is arguably the best Azzurri player in the current generation, and yet the midfielder is yet to play a single Serie A match, as PSG pounced for his signature after his breakthrough season with Pescara in Serie B.
In his new advanced role under Mauricio Pochettino, Verratti was the architect behind the equalizing goal with a sublime on touch.
Nonetheless, another Italian was behind the second goal, as Alessandro Florenzi’s run and cross caused havoc within the Barcelona defenses, allowing Mbappé to score his second of the evening.
The former Roma captain was supposed to be the legitimate heir of Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi in the capital. However, the versatile player found himself an outcast since the arrival of Paulo Fonseca to the Stadio Olimpico, and the Roman was eventually ousted from his home.
Whilst Florenzi and Verratti were behind the goals, a third Italian scored the third goal himself. Moise Kean has been on an incredible form for PSG this season, and he caused all type of trouble for the Spanish defenses, before scoring with a towering header.
The 21-year-old was born and bred as a footballer at Juventus, and after a breakthrough season under Max Allegri, he was shockingly sold to Everton at the beginning of Maurizio Sarri’s short tenure with the Italian champions.
Today, Juve’s thin attacking department has left Andrea Pirlo with very few choices in attack, and often solely relying on Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal, whilst Roma’s internal conflicts could have possibly been eased had they possessed a true leader in the locker room.
However, for one reason or another, Kean and Florenzi were shown the door by their original clubs, and Juventus and Roma’s losses ended up being PSG’s gain.