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Barcelona 6–1 PSG

Aggregate 6–5 · Suárez 3', Kurzawa og 40', Messi pen 50', Cavani 62', Neymar 88', Neymar pen 90+1', Sergi Roberto 90+5'

The Remontada. PSG went home; their complaint went to Nyon.

Match FileChampions League 2016/17 · Round of 16, second leg

Barcelona 6–1 PSG: The Remontada's Two Disputed Decisions

Barcelona needed to overturn a 4–0 first-leg deficit and, with five minutes left, trailed 5–3 on aggregate. Then Ángel Di María broke clear and was caught from behind by Javier Mascherano inside the box; Deniz Aytekin played on. Then Neymar curled in a free kick, Luis Suárez went down under Marquinhos and Neymar scored the penalty, and Sergi Roberto completed the greatest comeback in the competition's history in the 95th minute. Mascherano said afterwards that he had fouled Di María. PSG sent UEFA a five-page letter. UEFA's president said referees are not suspended. The jury files two exhibits from the same seven minutes.

Quick facts

Match: Barcelona 6–1 PSG, Camp Nou, 8 March 2017
Tie: First leg PSG 4–0; Barcelona through 6–5 on aggregate
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (Germany)
State at the Di María no-call: 3–1 on the night, 3–5 on aggregate, c.85th minute — PSG ahead by two
State at the Suárez penalty: 4–1 on the night, 4–5 on aggregate, 90th minute — PSG still ahead
Against Barcelona: Suárez booked for simulation in the 67th minute; PSG argued the later fall should have been a second yellow
Aftermath: PSG's five-page letter to UEFA; Čeferin: 'referees are not suspended'
VAR: None — introduced to the Champions League two seasons later

The tie, and the impossible arithmetic

PSG had won the first leg 4–0 in Paris, a scoreline that in the competition's history had never been overturned. Barcelona led 3–0 at Camp Nou by the 50th minute through Suárez, a Kurzawa own goal and a Messi penalty for a Meunier foul on Neymar, but Edinson Cavani's away goal in the 62nd minute meant Barcelona now needed three more. With five minutes of normal time left they had not scored again. The two decisions on this page fall in the window between that moment and the final whistle, with PSG ahead on aggregate at both.

The referee

Deniz Aytekin was a Bundesliga referee on UEFA's elite list. He never spoke publicly about the match; asked in a 2019 interview about his worst error, he named a missed penalty in a German league game instead. Reports in the Spanish press in the days afterwards said UEFA's refereeing chief was considering dropping him from Champions League duty; he did not referee another knockout tie that season, and later appeared only in group matches. UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, asked directly, said: 'We will not suspend the referee from that match, referees are not suspended.'

The Di María no-call

Around the 84th or 85th minute, with Barcelona 3–1 up and PSG two goals clear on aggregate, Marco Verratti sent Di María through on goal. Mascherano recovered from behind and brought him down inside the area as he shaped to shoot; Aytekin allowed play to continue. ESPN's match report called it 'a wonderful recovery tackle'. Mascherano's own verdict, given on Spanish radio the same night, was different: 'Está claro que hice falta a Di María' — it is clear I fouled Di María — though he added that this was not the reason PSG went out. A penalty at that point would have given PSG a 3–2 on the night and a 6–3 aggregate lead with five minutes to play.

The Suárez penalty

Neymar's 88th-minute free kick made it 4–1, and in the 90th minute Suárez went past Marquinhos in the box and went to ground under contact from behind. Aytekin pointed to the spot and Neymar converted in the first minute of stoppage time: 5–1, 5–5 on aggregate, PSG still ahead on away goals. Critics — including former referees reviewing the match — argued the contact was minimal and that Suárez, already booked for simulation against Verratti in the 67th minute, had exaggerated it. The defence points to real contact from behind on a player at full speed, the kind of penalty given every week. Four minutes later Sergi Roberto scored the sixth.

The law as written in 2017

Law 12 in 2016/17 required a direct free kick, and therefore a penalty in the area, for a challenge that was careless, reckless or used excessive force — including a trip or attempted trip. Simulation was a cautionable offence. Neither decision involved a threshold unique to the era; both turn on what the referee saw in real time at full speed, and there was no video assistant to show him again. That absence is why PSG's letter argued, and later analyses suggested, that the tie would have finished differently under VAR — a claim the archive records as attributed speculation.

The aftermath

Unai Emery said that night that 'the refereeing decisions went against us and we lost everything in the closing minutes'; Nasser Al-Khelaïfi said PSG should have had two penalties but were 'not looking for excuses', then a week later sent UEFA a five-page letter listing the decisions PSG disputed, from a first-half Mascherano handball to the Suárez penalty. UEFA told Sky Sports it had 'no further comment to make'. Aytekin refereed the German cup final that spring. The jury weighs the two exhibits in the same seven minutes: the foul that was not given, and the one that was.

Cast your ruling

Play this controversy

This match is playable. Replay the Remontada's Final Minutes as PSG — a free browser football game puts you in control as PSG from the 85th minute, against a referee whose bias level was set by the jury’s verdict on this very incident.

▶ VAR ReplayThink you could beat this referee?Replay the match from the disallowed goal — and finish the job.

Sources

Frequently asked

Was PSG robbed in the 6–1 against Barcelona?

Two late decisions are disputed: no penalty for Mascherano's challenge on Di María around the 85th minute, and a penalty for Marquinhos' contact on Suárez in the 90th. Mascherano himself said he fouled Di María. PSG complained to UEFA, which declined to act. The archive files both exhibits with the defence included; it does not claim the match was fixed.

Did Mascherano admit the foul on Di María?

Yes. On Spanish radio the same night he said 'Está claro que hice falta a Di María' — it is clear I fouled Di María — while adding that this was not the reason PSG were eliminated. He did not use the word penalty.

Was the Suárez penalty a dive?

That is the accusation, made by pundits and former referees reviewing the match, and it is the question the jury votes on. There was contact from Marquinhos from behind; critics say Suárez, already booked for simulation that night, exaggerated it. Barcelona and Suárez never accepted the characterisation.

What happened to referee Deniz Aytekin?

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said referees are not suspended for a bad match. Reports said UEFA's refereeing chief considered dropping him from Champions League duty; he did not referee another knockout tie that season. He refereed the German cup final in 2017 and continued in the Bundesliga until 2026.

What did PSG's letter to UEFA say?

Reports described a five-page letter, compiled with former referees, listing eight to ten disputed decisions: a first-half Mascherano handball, a possible second yellow for Piqué, the Messi penalty, the Suárez simulation booking, the Di María no-call and the Suárez penalty among them. UEFA said it had no further comment.

Can I replay the Remontada's final minutes?

Yes, as PSG. The VAR Replay scenario starts around the 85th minute with PSG ahead on aggregate and history scripted to score three times; one PSG goal ends the comeback on away goals.

More from the Barcelona Files

VARgentina is a satirical, fan-voted archive of controversial football decisions involving Lionel Messi’s teams. It documents disputed refereeing decisions, contemporary criticism and community opinion. It does not claim proven corruption, match-fixing, bribery or personal wrongdoing by Lionel Messi, FC Barcelona, Argentina, FIFA, UEFA or match officials unless explicitly established by a reliable official source. Results reflect fan opinion, not verified wrongdoing.