Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored

          
Those injuries combined with Ibrahimovic's performance against a team where he had an unhappy 2009-10 season may have dominated the post-match discussion, but it was the inclusion of 37-year-old David Beckham in PSG's starting line-up that caught the eye before kick-off.Despite Messi's neat finish for his 57th goal of the season, Dani Alves's delicious pass, off the outside of his right foot, to slice open the defence stole the show. The selection of the former England captain, ahead of the 20-year-old Marco Verratti, looked questionable as Barcelona monopolised possession in an ominous opening, but Beckham went on to have a solid 70 minutes in a deep-lying midfield role. Messi escaped the attentions of the excellent Thiago Silva once more to curl narrowly over but it was to be his final contribution as he hobbled out of the action with a right hamstring strain that will be assessed over the next 24 hours. The home side's game plan initially confounded Barca with Beckham and the industrious Matuidi sitting deep and launching swift counter-attacks towards a dangerous front quartet of Ibrahimovic, the impressive Lucas Moura, and Argentine pair Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Pastore.Ibrahimovic almost scooped the ball cleverly into the path of the PSG midfielder, who will miss the return leg after picking up a booking, but Gerard Pique was quick enough to make up the ground. Barcelona were limited to wayward long-range efforts from Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez, before a moment of brilliance converted their time on the ball to a score on the board.

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