Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) have learned to doubt the odds. Especially against FC Barcelona. After their large victory at Camp Nou in the first leg (4-1), on February 16, the Parisians have, however, on Wednesday March 10, every chance to see the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Yes, but all the chances of qualifying, that was also the prognosis four years ago at the same stage of the competition. Before the Catalans summon the spirit of the “remorada” to ward off their initial defeat at the Parc des Princes (4-0).
Parisian supporters know the rest by heart: a panicked defense, the livid face of coach Unai Emery on the bench, the little sentence of journalist Stéphane Guy at the 83e minute promised to posterity (” Opposite, it’s not Gijon, it’s not Valladolid, it’s Paris-Saint-Germain ”), Barça’s three goals in the wake to swallow his microphone to the then commentator of Canal +, and complete this not so impossible comeback (6-1).
In spite of himself, the PSG imports in France this concept of reassembly, taken up again a few days later by the militants and the supports of a candidate François Fillon in free fall in the polls before the first round of the presidential election.
Until the night of March 8, 2017, the rise, in French in the text, remained a secret shared by lovers of Spanish football. On the other side of the Pyrenees, we prefer when the hare ends up combing the turtle to the pole. In this fable, reason and defeatism are evacuated in favor of an emotional battle waged sword clear, that is to say this football furia (the “fury”) which, for a while, was able to give way to a more cerebral, refined but above all triumphant game from Barça of Pep Guardiola and a selection marching on the competition between 2008 and 2012.
A specialty of Real
If the word “remountada” appeared in the 1950s, a club wrote the instructions for use three decades later. Ironically, this pioneer is called Real Madrid, Barça’s intimate enemy. Between 1984 and 1988, the Merengues made up six times, in front of their home crowd, a delay of two goals or more conceded away in the first leg. At the time, Juanito threatened overconfident visitors: “Ninety minutes at the Bernabeu is long, very long. “
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