Why Barcelona's epic comeback against PSG would never have happened with VAR

Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona meet again in a Champions League quarter-final at Parc des Princes tonight and while seven years have passed since La Remontada, arguably the greatest comeback in the history of the sport, references to that remarkable turnaround will still shape the narrative of this collision.

But in the era of video assistant referees Barca’s 6-1 second leg win at Camp Nou, to progress 6-5 on aggregate, would almost certainly not have happened.

As Unai Emery, the now Aston Villa manager who was then in charge of the Parisien giants, said three years after, with the outcome still evidently upsetting him: “We were eliminated because VAR did not yet exist. We were clearly eliminated by refereeing decisions.”

PSG sent UEFA a five-page letter of complaint over the performance of German ref Deniz Aytekin - pointing to eight different incidents during the game.

Aytekin was de facto demoted by the governing body afterwards - only taking charge of group stage games in the following two seasons. He stepped down as an international referee in 2022 but is still working domestically.

In 2021 L’Equipe had a leading French referee, Said Ennjimi, watch the game back in full and judge the decisions.

And he declared Barca defender Gerard Pique would likely have been dismissed in the first half, while Javier Mascherano committed a foul that would have earned PSG a penalty.

The Catalans led 1-0, thanks to an early Luis Suarez goal, when Pique clattered into the back of Edinson Cavani. The centre half received a yellow card but were video reviews permitted it likely would have been upgraded to red.

“This is an uncontrolled tackle from behind by Piqué whose sole objective is to endanger the physical integrity of his opponent,” Ennjimi said.

The other controversial refereeing decision arrived much later, in the 85th minute - with Barca winning 3-1 on the night but trailing 5-3 on aggregate. Mascherano brought down compatriot Angel di Maria from behind but no penalty was awarded - and the former Liverpool star would have also been at risk of a red card had the referee been allowed to review the incident.

“The error is more than obvious, it is gross,” Ennjimi added. “After viewing the images, not only would there have been a penalty in favour of PSG, but most certainly also a direct red card against Mascherano, as his tackle was disinterested in the ball and committed from behind.”

"It is clear that I touch Di Maria and I make a mistake,” Mascherano told Spanish radio after the game. “But I think that is not the reason why we eliminated PSG."

PSG were then irked by Aytekin’s decision to award Barca a 91st-minute penalty when Luis Suarez went down under minimal contact from Marquinhos - the Uruguay forward’s reaction was predictably theatrical but even L'Equipe’s analyst reckoned VAR would not have overturned it.

Few of the protagonists from that evening remain at the clubs now - Barca’s goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and unlikely tie-winner Sergi Roberto; PSG trio Marquinhos, Layvin Kurzawa and Presnel Kimpembe.

Yet the ghosts remain at PSG, who would go on to sign two of Barca’s biggest stars - Lionel Messi and Neymar - in pursuit of a first European title. The wait goes on and despite reaching the last eight few are backing them this time.