Pochettino's fiery half-time team talk prevented another PSG collapse vs Barca

Mauricio Pochettino's 'hot' half-time team talk spared Paris Saint-Germain from another Champions League collapse against Barcelona on Wednesday night.

PSG's 5-2 aggregate progression to the quarter-finals, following a 1-1 draw in the Parc des Princes, seems comfortable enough but Barcelona put them under severe pressure.

Pochettino's side were fortunate to be level at the break after Lionel Messi's screamer had cancelled out Kylian Mbappe's penalty.

Messi saw a penalty on the stroke of half-time, which would have put Barcelona two goals away from advancing, saved by Kaylor Navas.

And centre-back Marquinhos said the manager's half-time address 'made the difference' in ensuring there was no repeat of PSG's 2017 collapse to Barcelona.

Back then, a 4-0 first leg lead was blown away by a 6-1 defeat in the Nou Camp in which Barcelona scored twice in stoppage time to dramatically snatch the tie.

'We're not going to give away all the secrets,' Marquinhos told RMC Sport.

'It was hot, it reflected the difficult moments we had, we lacked a lot in the defensive phase, they took advantage with their full-backs.

'He asked for more engagement, with little videos. This is what made the difference.'

Despite Barcelona enjoying further second-half chances, PSG saw out the contest to advance to the last eight, having won the first leg 4-1 in Barcelona three weeks ago.

Pochettino was also pleased with his team's second-half improvement.

'We suffered a lot in the first half,' he said on RMC. 'We struggled with the first pass. Psychologically it was a test because we talked a lot about the past. In the second half we showed a difference face.

'What is clear is that we thought too much in the first half. We were thinking too much about qualifying, that's what I told the players.

'I asked them to play. Of course I was not happy, I told the players that, but sometimes it happens and we were more combative in the second half.

'The important thing is that we are through. We must put negative thoughts away from us.'