PSG beat Barcelona in six-goal Champions League thriller

Story By Staff Reporter

Paris Saint-Germain 4-2 Barcelona | Champions League

Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 in an open, high-scoring night in Paris, with Vitinha’s long-range strike swinging a see-saw second half the hosts’ way.

Doué opens the scoring

Désiré Doué put PSG ahead before half-time, and the lead came from a mistake by Lamine Yamal. The Barcelona winger gave the ball away in a costly moment, and it set the tone for an unusually untidy evening from him.

A second half of trading blows

Barcelona came out fighting after the break. Youngster Xavi Espart levelled first, but PSG went back in front when Lucas Hernández rose to power in a header from a Doué outswinging corner. Ferran Torres had just hit the post at the other end, and the set-piece goal punished a Barcelona side that has struggled defensively on corners, conceding 12 set-piece goals across La Liga and the Champions League last season.

Barcelona answered quickly. Yamal collected the ball on the right, beat Warren Zaïre-Emery, who had just come on at left-back for Hernández, and fired past Matvey Safonov at the near post to make it 2-2.

Vitinha and Ruiz settle it

The lead changed hands again almost immediately. After a PSG cross was cleared to the edge of the box, Vitinha struck a half-volley through a crowd of players and kept it low past Joan García. It was his second Champions League goal in as many weeks.

Fabián Ruiz sealed it late on, arriving at the far post to tap in after PSG worked the ball down the right. Barcelona’s defending lost track of the runners at the back post.

Injury blows for PSG

The win was costly. PSG lost forwards Ousmane Dembélé and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to injury, one on either side of half-time.

Torres wastes chances, García keeps Barcelona in it

Barcelona could have made it closer. Torres missed three big chances, and García made several excellent saves, which kept the scoreline from getting even bigger. PSG managed 15 shots in the second half alone.

Another PSG classic

The match follows PSG’s 4-2 win over Manchester City last week, when they scored three times in the first 32 minutes. This time they spent more of the game chasing goals than protecting a lead, and still found a way through. Combined with last season’s 5-4 semi-final win over Bayern Munich, the holders keep producing memorable Champions League nights.