PSG star ‘sought therapy’ after ‘Remontada’ loss to Barcelona
Robin Bairner
- 8 Oct 2022 09:30 BST
- 3 min read
Former PSG striker Edinson Cavani has admitted that he needed therapy after being part of a team that collapsed embarrassingly to Barcelona in a match that is now known as ‘La Remotada’.
In the last 16 of the 2017/18 Champions League, PSG held a 4-0 lead over the Catalan side from the first leg but saw their lead chipped away at Camp Nou. Barcelona moved into a 3-0 advantage on the night, but the tie should have been sealed when Cavani scored just after the hour mark. That goal left Barca needing to score three more goals because the away goals rule was still in place.
With 87 minutes gone, the Catalans were no closer to their target, yet in an incredible twist, they scored the three goals required to send them through to the quarter-finals.
It is a night that has echoed throughout footballing history as it prompted PSG to splash out €222 million the following summer to sign Neymar, who notched two of the late goals.
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Cavani needed counselling after defeat
Meanwhile, it was also deeply affecting on a personal level, with Cavani admitting that he needed counselling after the event, in which PSG meekly crumbled in the face of a Blaugrana tsunami late on.
"The first time I went to therapy was after Barca's comeback against PSG," the 35-year-old told Relevo.
Edinson Cavani has revealed that he needed counselling after #PSG's infamous 'La Remontada' loss to Barcelonapic.twitter.com/K84m9cDJjT
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) October 8, 2022
"It affected me a lot and there are things that weight you down. In five minutes, everything that we had been doing changed. It's a huge blow which you can't control and, even though it is football, it touches other parts of your person as well, with anxiety, cold sweats, I got dizzy sleeping, I was afraid of going to sleep... I wondered if I had a problem with my head."
Cavani became PSG’s all-time leading scorer in the aftermath – a record Kylian Mbappe is closing in on – but subsequently moved on to Manchester United and is now with Valencia.
