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Barcelona and Messi bow out of the Champions League

Kylian Mbappé’s first-half penalty ensured a comfortable route to the last eight for the home side.

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Paris resisted first-half pressure to earn a 1-1 draw at the Parc des Princes and eliminate Barcelona 5-2 on aggregate in their round of 16 tie.

Barcelona’s purposeful opening was understandable given their 4-1 first-leg reverse and Keylor Navas was tested twice by Ousmane Dembélé early on. But they fell behind when Clément Lenglet clipped Mauro Icardi and Kylian Mbappé converted the resulting penalty for his fourth goal of the tie.

Ronald Koeman’s team responded impressively as Lionel Messi thumped in a glorious drive from distance and they would have led at the break had Navas not deflected the Argentinian’s spot kick against the bar after Layvin Kurzawa fouled Antoine Griezmann.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men heeded that warning, though, and were far more compact after half-time, Marquinhos epitomising their determination with a diving block to thwart Messi. A comeback never looked on the cards from that moment onwards as Barça’s run of 13 straight quarter-final appearances came to a tame end.

2 comments

  1. Uganda’s potential to turn her wies into triumphs is always incredible. We have enough enterpreneurs who could solve this problem also. Come on let us add value to our maize and poultry products. The M.Ps should encourage our spirit of resourcefulness. I have a feeling Kenya will regret rheir decision on seeing Uganda’s prosperity on a new venture. What are all our scientists doing. Remember the wisdom of the sugarcane farmers turning the excess cane into ethanol while
    Mumias as a company was closing. God gave us the wisdom let’s put it to good use.

  2. Can’ t we do something with barley as a crop. Our farmers have given us a good crop and we need to help them add value and pay well.

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