Pochettino's half-time magic saves PSG from the upcoming catastrophe

It could have been tricky for the French champions against Barcelona last night. The pressure Messi & Co inflicted on PSG gave an impression another "La Remontada" was in the making. However, the new PSG manager did a hell of a job man-managing his players in the locker room and brought confidence to his squad to continue the match. Mauricio Pochettino's 'heated' half-time team talk helped spare Paris Saint-Germain from another Champions League collapse against Barcelona.

PSG endured a humiliating exit at the hands of Barcelona in 2017 as the Spanish side thrashed them 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the last-16 and it briefly looked like another difficult night could be on the cards at the Parc des Princes.

Parisians had a similar traumatic experience in 2019 when they went out to Manchester United in the last 16 after giving up a 2-0 first-leg advantage. They have since reached the final in 2020 and finally managed to bury the demons from 2017.

Messi gave them hope, Messi gave them enough rope to hang themselves

Last night's game gave us some excitement. After PSG's Kylian Mbappe, who scored a hat-trick in the first leg at the Camp Nou, opened the scoring with a penalty against the run of play, Lionel Messi levelled with a jaw-dropping 25-metre missile before stepping up to take a penalty after Antoine Griezmann had been fouled by Layvin Kurzawa.

PSG have Navas to thank for their victory as the keeper, who won the Champions League in three straight years from 2016 with Real Madrid, had a night to remember. Before saving Messi's penalty, he denied forward Ousmane Dembele on three occasions and pulled off another couple of great saves in the second half.

Another huge factor, alongside Navas, was the manager of the French team, Mauricio Pochettino. Centre-back and captain Marquinhos said the manager's half-time address 'made the difference' in ensuring there was no repeat of PSG's 2017 collapse.

'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.'

Marquinhos (©AFP)

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.'

Mauricio Pochettino has vowed to fight to the death to win the Champions League and finally bring European glory to Paris Saint-Germain. Last season PSG reached the final under boss Thomas Tuchel - now at Chelsea - but lost to a single Kingsley Coman goal as they were outclassed by Bayern Munich.

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While the reigning Ligue 1 champions have enjoyed unprecedented domestic success, the club's Qatari owners are also desperate for continental prestige, a responsibility the former Spurs boss is fully aware of.

'Clearly, it is the ambition of the club, that of the win." he told LFP. 'There are a lot of other teams who want to win it, it's not that easy. 'We are aware of our responsibility, and we will fight to the death to achieve it.'

Aside from Tuchel, none of Pochettino's recent predecessors managed to get further than the Champions League quarter-final, with Carlo Ancelotti, Laurent Blanc and Unai Emery all failing in that objective.