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Scorers: Messi 32', 77' and 87'; Ousmane Dembele 75'
The wait is finally over. FC Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven kickstarted the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League campaign. After a disappointing 2017/18 Champions League season, Barcelona will look to break their European trophy drought this season.
Barcelona are arguably in the toughest group this season, along with the likes of PSV, Inter Milan and Tottenham Hotspur. Barcelona last won the Champions League title in 2015 and have witnessed their arch-rivals, Real Madrid, dominate the tournament for the past three years.
Ernesto Valverde fielded a strong side with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Ousmane Dembele upfront in the attack. Valverde brought Philippe Coutinho and Sergio Busquets back to the starting lineup after being rested for the weekend La Liga fixture.
PSV are back in the Champions League after missing out last year's tournament. The Dutch side destroyed ADO Den Haag 7-0 in their last Eredivisie fixture and as a result, Mark van Bommel fielded an unchanged side at the Camp Nou. Mexico’s World Cup hero, Hirving Lozano, started up front for the Eredivisie side.
It was a familiar story in the end as Barcelona dominated the game and finished 4-0 winners. Lionel Messi grabbed a stunning hat-trick and Ousmane Dembele continued his good start to the season with a goal for himself.
On that note, let’s take a look at the five talking points from the game.
#1 Dembele continued his good start to the season
Ousmane Dembele is beginning to show his worth at the Camp Nou. Barcelona made him one of the most expensive players in world football last summer when they paid a huge fee to Borussia Dortmund to sign the youngster. After a disappointing start to his Barcelona career, the Frenchman has started the 2018/19 on a stunning fashion.
Dembélé has scored his fourth goal of the season in just five games. The 21-year-old was lively on the night and was relentless with his running. He troubled PSV’s defense with his pace and won the foul for Lionel Messi’s brilliant free kick. He killed the game in the 75th minute with a stunning goal. He mesmerized PSV’s defense with a brilliant run and slotted it past a hapless Jeroen Zoet into the back of the net. Dembele is going from strength to strength this campaign.
#2 PSV outplayed in the second half
The Eredivisie side stuck to their task in the first half. They frustrated Barcelona for the first 30 minutes and it needed a moment of individual brilliance from Lionel Messi to open the deadlock. PSV had a couple of decent opportunities of their own in the first half, but failed to take advantage of them.
However, van Bommel‘ side were outplayed in the second half. Barcelona came out all guns blazing after the break and kept the Dutch side under pressure. They created a plethora of opportunities and Luis Suarez missed a couple of them, before Dembélé put the game to bed in the 75th minute. It was all one-way traffic after that, as Barcelona grabbed two more goals to end the game 4-0.
#3 Messi becomes the first player in Champions League history to score eight hat-tricks
Lionel Messi scored his 48th career hat-trick on Tuesday. PSV kept Barcelona quiet in the first half-hour. A brilliant Ousmane Dembele run resulted in a Barcelona free kick from the edge of the box in the 32nd minute. Messi stepped up and scored the goal with an incredible strike. It was a stunning effort from the Argentine, and Zoet had no chance of stopping that.
Messi had an effort on goal saved in the 51st minute. Three minutes after Dembélé’s goal, the 31-year-old made it 3-0 with a beautiful first-time strike. Messi completed his hat-trick in the 88th minute with another well-taken goal. It was a ruthless display from Messi, well supported by Ousmane Dembele. He became the first player to score eight Champions League hat-tricks.
#4 Umtiti had a night to forget
The World Cup winner had a horrible night at the Camp Nou. He wasn’t at his very best throughout the game and failed to play the full 90 minutes. Umtiti was booked for a loose challenge on De Jong in the 55th minute.
He got himself into trouble when he tried to stop Hirving Lozano’s counter attack with a silly foul. As the Mexican international raced down the field, the Umtiti body-checked him and was shown a second yellow card.
He gave no option to the referee and was sent off in the 80th minute. It was a needless foul considering Barcelona already had the game in their bag. He will now miss the next game against Tottenham Hotspur.
#5 Valverde could not have asked for a better start
It was a perfect start to a new Champions League campaign for the Catalan giants. After witnessing their arch-rivals winning back-to-back-to-back European titles, Ernesto Valverde was under huge pressure to deliver European silverware at the Camp Nou and his side delivered just that with an emphatic 4-0 win.
He could not have asked for a better start as the Blaugrana completely destroyed their opponents on Tuesday. It was a clinical display from the hosts and Valverde should feel very happy with the result and Dembélé’s performance, in particular. Apart from Umtiti’s red card, it was a perfect night for Barcelona and Valverde.
