How a Harry Kane Champions League goal played a big role in Goncalo Ramos’s winner for PSG at Barcelona

Almost a year ago, Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane scored a goal that wouldn’t impact the result in a 4-1 loss to Barcelona, but it did make an impact on Wednesday. Paris Saint-Germain striker Goncalo Ramos was watching that goal, and he says it helped him beat Barcelona’s high line for PSG to win 2-1 on Wednesday in UCL play. Coming off the bench for the visitors, Ramos delivered the goal, and it shows the attention to detail that PSG have when preparing for games, as he was quite aware of how Kane took apart Barcelona.

When Bayern Munich faced Barcelona, Kane had multiple chances to beat their high line. The first time that he put the ball in the back of the net, he was judged to be offside, but the next time that he had a chance (which can be seen here at 7:44), he stayed forward, and Serge Gnabry was able to bend the ball back for Kane to deliver a devastating finish.

CBS Sports studio analyst Thierry Henry took notice of Kane’s lack of regard for the Barcelona defenders, and it’s something that has been a trend facing off against Hansi Flick’s Barcelona.

“This man realized that in the first half, Barcelona are always pushing too much, so there is no need for you to come [back]. Just make sure you stay in an offside position,” Henry said, describing Kane’s goal. “Why? Because if they switch the ball and they switch the ball again, you’re never going to be offside because you’re going to be behind the ball. He’s never going to try to come back in an onside position because he knows he’ll be behind the ball.”

That goal is almost a carbon copy of Achraf Hakimi’s assist to Ramos. Ramos was in an offside position, and Hakimi bent an excellent ball into his path that Barcelona keeper Wojciech Szczesny couldn’t save for the eventual win. 

Take a look at the goal:

“I think a lot about beating a high line. For me, personally, it’s my favorite place. I just went there, and we have very fast players coming from behind, and even against Barcelona, they have a video of Harry Kane, I think two years ago, and he did something like I did on the goal, and he scored,” Ramos said.

After redefining how teams kick off by kicking it out to start the press, PSG’s attention to detail shows again, but this is also why Barcelona can’t win the Champions League unless they change what they do defensively and recognize the space they are leaving out wide. Flick’s style works in La Liga and against most teams in the world, but when pitted against the very best in the world, they need answers. The fact that Ramos was able to look at a goal scored a year ago and execute the same thing because Barcelona’s defense hasn’t changed is an issue. Without adjustments, it won’t matter how strong the Barcelona attack is, the offside trap will continue to be their Achilles heel.