Ex-Tottenham flop Paulinho started for Barcelona against Chelsea this evening.
Barcelona came from a goal down to claim a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie at Stamford Bridge this evening.
After hitting the woodwork twice, Willian made it third time lucky to put Chelsea in front, before Lionel Messi ended his bizarre hoodoo by finally scoring against the Blues, tucking home Andres Iniesta’s pass.
With an away goal in their back pocket now, Barcelona will feel confident of advancing into the last eight of the competition ahead of the return leg at the Camp Nou, provided they don’t endure a nightmare in Catalunya.
However, one player who will be hoping for much better than tonight’s showing is midfielder Paulinho, who was far from impressive for Ernesto Valverde’s side at Stamford Bridge.
The Brazilian was making his first return to London since leaving Tottenham Hotspur for Guangzhou Evergrande in 2015, with the midfielder now carving out a role for Barca despite his struggles in England.
Having impressed in La Liga this season with eight goals to his name, many wondered whether Paulinho had really kicked on from his time with Spurs – but fans were left bemused on Twitter.
Tottenham fans felt that Paulinho was exactly the same player who failed to make any sort of impression with Spurs, with many shocked that he is somehow playing for Barcelona.
Others noted that Moussa Sissoko cannot be Tottenham’s worst ever player given that Paulinho featured for the club, with widespread shock that he is in the same team as Messi.
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