Ivan Rakitic reveals New England's Super Bowl success inspired Barcelona to stun PSG in the Champions League

'We saw in the Super Bowl what is possible in sport,' the midfielder commented after the game

Barcelona celebrating upon the final whistle (Getty)

Ivan Rakitic has revealed that Barcelona took inspiration from the Super Bowl in pulling off the biggest comeback that the Champions League has ever seen.

Just as the New England Patriots came back from 25 points down to beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in that American showpiece, Barca came back from four goals from a last-16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain to win 6-1 on the night and 6-5 on aggregate.

That they had to recover from an away goal at 3-0 up made it all the more remarkable.

"No, I cannot believe it,” Rakitic told BeIn Sport. “It was really impossible. 15-20 minutes after the game, it is crazy and unbelievable.

“Thank you to the team, to the people around the club and the fans. It was a really special day and it is hard to say something.

“The first game in Paris was hard for us, a lot of people spoke hard with our team but the reaction was special.

The midfielder derived inspiration from the Super Bowl (Getty) (Getty Images)

"It is history. We want to keep going on.

“We had to believe. 4-0 was hard, but it is football. We saw it in the Super Bowl, what is possible in sport. Today was crazy. This is Barcelona, the best team in the world and we want to continue our dream in the Champions League.”