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PSG thrashed 4-0 Barcelona in the Champions League
Trapp only the third goalkeeper to keep clean sheet vs. Barca this season
Few face the most feared attacking triumvirate in football and escape unscathed.
Despite being only halfway through this season, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar have already scored a staggering 67 goals between them.
On Tuesday, however, Kevin Trapp became only the third goalkeeper to keep Barcelona at bay in the 2016-17 campaign, as Paris Saint-Germain inflicted the Catalans’ joint-heaviest defeat in Champions League history.
“Of course you know Messi, Neymar and Suarez have a lot of quality,” the German told CNN. “You see them playing every week and the goals they score, so you know that you really need to be prepared to defend them.
“It’s very hard but, as you could see yesterday, it’s possible. As a goalkeeper, of course you know normally you’re going to have a lot of work against them, but we played very well as a team and I think it was a very well deserved win.
“All in all, it was the perfect match for us.”
Unai Emery’s side was widely praised for its blistering counter-attacking performance and Angel Di Maria in particular picked up many of the plaudits for his part in the demolition.
But Trapp was keen to emphasize the victory was a team effort, especially the success in denying Barcelona’s “MSN.”
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“I think there were many factors yesterday because we played very well as a team, we defended very well and that’s what you need against a team like Barcelona, against strikers like Messi, Neymar and Suarez,” Trapp said.
“You need to be on top, you probably need to play your best match, to defend how we defended yesterday. Then, of course, the goals we scored were fantastic.
“We played with a lot of confidence, so there were many key factors in the match yesterday to win the game.”
No club has ever overturned a 4-0 first-leg defeat in the Champions League to advance to the next round.
The result puts PSG in pole position to qualify for the quarterfinals, a hurdle at which its fallen in each of the last four seasons.
Having been crowned domestic Ligue 1 champion for four successive years, Trapp admits it is now time for the club to transfer that dominance onto the European stage.
“Of course, one of the goals here at PSG is to win the Champions League but we know it’s very difficult,” the 26-year-old said.
“We need to train a lot, the details can be very, very tight in the Champions League and we want to go further than we did the last few years. We were always eliminated in the quarterfinals.
“But we still have a difficult match in Barcelona. I think we should focus on that match and after we will see what happens. As I said two days ago, PSG can play a very big role in the Champions League this year.”
Despite history being firmly on their side, Trapp is adamant he and his teammates are taking nothing for granted ahead of the return leg at the Nou Camp in March.
Barcelona needs to score four goals to force extra time or score five to win the match inside 90 minutes, a feat Messi, Neymar, Suarez and co. have already achieved eight times this season.
“Everybody is happy, I think it was a great match, a great evening last night – but we know that we still have another match to play in Barcelona,” Trapp said.
“4-0 is a nice result but we know in Barcelona it is very, very difficult to play and that they are always able to score.
“So we need to be ready, we need to be very well prepared in Barcelona to achieve our goals but we know it’s very, very difficult match there. But for now, the day after, of course we are very happy.”