Is PSG Better Without Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

The Champs Elysees is just recovering. The most beautiful avenue in the world went through a special night on Tuesday, as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the Champions League round of 16.

As always when PSG or France win a trophy or claim a great result, it gets flooded with fans. Tuesday was one of those nights, maybe the greatest since PSG won the Cup Winners’ Cup back in 1996. People took the Champs Elysees by storm like PSG had done against Barcelona a few hours earlier at the Parc des Princes.

“Prodigious” read L’Equipe’s headline on Wednesday morning; “Magical” was the choice for Le Parisien. A lot of supporters would have had to pinch themselves when they woke up to make sure the win and the performance actually happened.

What PSG did to Barcelona, arguably the best team in the world for the last 11 years, is something you can usually only dream of. Of course, there was some optimism before the game as it was quite clear this Barcelona team was not having a great season. They didn’t look as strong as they were back in 2013 when Carlo Ancelotti, David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic could not knock them out in the quarterfinals, or in 2015 when the duo of Laurent Blanc and Ibra could not do it either at the same stage.

Unai Emery and Edinson Cavani are on the verge of doing it, though. The game plan on Tuesday night was perfectly executed. It was a no-brainer that pressing Barca high at the right moment would be key, as well as not leaving any space between the lines when dropping a bit deeper. But having a great game plan is one thing, applying it for 90 minutes is quite another.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson used to say that you rarely have 11 players performing at their best at the same time in the same game, but Emery had it on Tuesday. The former Sevilla manager, whose record against Barcelona before Tuesday read W1, D6, L16, was even without captain Thiago Silva and vice-captain Thiago Motta.

He had to play 21-year-old Presnel Kimpembe, who had never played in the Champions League before, at the back. He also had to bring 19-year-old Christopher Nkunku, who had played just three minutes of Champions League football in his whole life, off the bench for a little under half an hour.

PSG’s brilliance matched Barcelona’s dreadfulness. Since the turn of the year, the French champions have improved massively. It felt things were finally clicking under Emery; that the players were finally capable of implementing his philosophy and his methods, so different than the ones Blanc used to have.

The togetherness, team spirit, tactical discipline and game plan were all down to the Spaniard and how he prepared meticulously. The players did the rest. From Kevin Trapp’s goal kick to Angel Di Maria’s second goal (PSG’s third), there were five passes, with six players (Trapp, Adrien Rabiot, Julian Draxler, Blaise Matuidi, Layvin Kurzawa and Di Maria) involved. The whole move took just 20 seconds.

Rabiot, playing out of position, was exceptional and even nutmegged Lionel Messi at one point. Marco Verratti bossed the Barcelona midfield like no-one had ever done before, making Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets look amateur. Di Maria, who celebrated his 29th birthday on Tuesday, was unstoppable. Edinson Cavani, who turned 30, was as lethal as ever, scoring his 34th goal of the season in 32 matches in all competitions. That’s just to pick a few players. They all deserve huge praise. It is so rare to see such a perfect game from a team.

The victory is also the one that finally closes the book on the Ibra years. Until Tuesday, his shadow was still there, haunting the Parc des Princes and the training ground. PSG are now free of his shackles. The Swedish striker had some incredible years in his four years in Paris (156 goals scored, 12 trophies won) before he left for Man United this summer, but he never used to turn up in big matches like Tuesday’s. In fact, he used to make his team so dependent on him that it would inhibit his teammates.

Zlatan is gone. His memories will live forever but this squad have finally closed the chapter of his time and written the first page of a new one with a glorious start.

In the post-Ibra era, we were looking for a sign of progression. Now we have it.