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Football fans left in the dark after BT Sport's free coverage of Barcelona vs PSG slips under the radar

The whole game was available to watch on Freeview

Samuel Lovett
Thursday 09 March 2017 14:27 GMT
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Barcelona's players celebrate after overcoming PSG to reach the last eight of the Champions League
Barcelona's players celebrate after overcoming PSG to reach the last eight of the Champions League

It was a night of thrilling football, euphoric crescendos and wild celebrations as Barcelona defied the odds to reach the last eight of the Champions League.

True to his word, Luis Enrique and his men ‘scored six’ to overturn a first-leg four-goal deficit, beating PSG 6-5 on aggregate to pull of what seemed impossible.

It was a night that will long in the memory of those fortune enough to have watched it – but one that will have been needlessly missed by those without BT subscription.

Indeed, unbeknown to many of these unsuspecting football fans, the entire match was broadcast for free on BT Sport.

BT shelled out £897m in 2013 to secure the exclusive rights to European football coverage between 2015 and 2018, with only fee-paying subscribers able to watch fixtures from the Champions League and Europa League.

Nonetheless, BT has on occasion broadcast certain fixtures for free – as was the case with Wednesday night’s thrilling showdown at the Nou Camp which was available on Freeview.

But due to a lack of publicity promoting this fact, those football fans left in the dark about BT's free coverage will have either missed the game entirely or been forced to turn to other means to follow Barcelona’s stunning fightback.

And what a fightback it was.

After falling three goals behind, PSG secured what seemed to be a vital away goal, courtesy of Edinson Cavani, to briefly take the wind out of Barcelona’s sails.

But a remarkable comeback, led by Brazil's Neymar, saw the home side fire three goals past Unai Emery’s men within the space of seven minutes, with Sergi Roberto clinching an injury-time winner to send the Nou Camp into hysteria.

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