Republic of Ireland international Stephen Hunt was left baffled by the performances and tactics he saw from Paris Saint-Germain as they lost 6-1 at the Nou Camp against Barcelona in what many have labelled the best footballing comeback of all-time.
In his regular column for Independent.ie, Hunt had expressed his belief that Arsenal fans should be careful what they wish for given Arsene Wenger's ability to keep the club in Champions League football over the past 20 years, and even recalled a personal chat the Arsenal boss once had with him after a game in which he played for Wolves that he admits may have an impact on how he views the current situation at the London club.
The former Reading and Hull City man then took aim at the French champions as he claimed that Championship sides would have done a better job at shutting up shop than PSG's multi-million-pound stars after he praised Luis Suarez for his work-rate and effort from the first minute, in contrast to Alexis Sanchez who he labelled a 'disgrace':
Alexis Sanchez has been an absolute disgrace and it is no wonder Wenger has run out of patience with him. You can't keep waving your arms about, blaming everyone else, and expect your team-mates to want you in the side. You can see the players at Arsenal are not having Sanchez.
You can channel any disappointment in your team, your manager or even your performances in a much more positive way. Keep it private, don't fight your battles in public and react in a more constructive way.
Play like Luis Suarez. So many times in that amazing game in the Nou Camp on Wednesday night he was close to crossing the line, and there were aspects of his performance, like throwing himself around under nearly every challenge, which were disappointing. But you would love to have Suarez in your team. Unlike Sanchez.
And when it comes to what he saw last week, Hunt was not impressed with what he saw from the PSG players and, in particular, their manager Unai Emery, who he believes is the main culprit in the French side's total collapse.
Barcelona's incredible comeback just shows that the best players in the world can perform, no matter what. They can put things to one side and concentrate on their next performance to work for the team and get a result.
Right from the first minute, you could see that Suarez was up for mischief. He was in the mood to cause any kind of chaos to the PSG players and, unfortunately for the Paris players, they fell into his trap and panicked.
There was not one minute in the game when they were calm or even able to play football to get into the Barcelona half.
A lot of Championship teams would have gone to the Nou Camp to shut up shop, and would have done a better job than the PSG players. This was the elite of French football and they will have to live with how they handled that game for the rest of their lives.
And the worst culprit of the lot? The manager, Unai Emery, who just looked in complete shock and incapable of reacting to what was happening to his team. He just stood there with one arm folded and the other tucked under his chin and hardly moved throughout.
He looked like he was trying to give the impression that he was staying calm, but in fact sent out completely the opposite message.
An interesting take from Hunt, who certainly doesn't shy away from revealing how he really feels when it comes to his punditry.
PSG have since given their full support to Emery, but Hunt raises some good points regarding how he may have projected his nervousness onto his players. Whatever happened, the idea that they will have to live with how they handled that game is surely an accurate one, because as much as Barcelona's achievement has been celebrated, it should simply never have happened.
You can read Stephen Hunt's column in full over on Independent.ie.
