Paris Saint-Germain won an important 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League. Especially in the context of their absence of key striker trio Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia due to injury.
The stage at the Olympic Stadium seemed to be ready for Lamine Yamal - who just finished second behind Dembele in the 2025 Ballon d'Or race - to shine. Indeed, Barcelona's young talent has left his mark with individual handling and fierce confrontation with left-back Nuno Mendes. However, in the end, it was the cohesion and team spirit under Luis Enrique that decisive the match, like the journey to help PSG win the championship last season.
Ferran Torres opened the scoring for Barcelona in a vibrant first half, but Senny Mayulu managed to equalize for PSG right before the break. Entering the second half, the French team completely dominated the game.
Hansi Flick's surprising decision to use the central defender pair Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi many times put Barca's defense in a difficult position against the trio of Mayulu, Bradley Barcola and 17-year-old talent Ibrahim Mbaye. With the pressure on, Goncalo Ramos' goal to seal the victory in the 90th minute seemed more inevitable than a surprise.
The Olympic Stadium stands quickly decreased, leaving only about 3,000 PSG fans to celebrate with the players. Considering the opponent's difficult circumstances and class, this is an affirming victory, adding confidence to the reigning European champion.
Barcelona also suffered a loss of force with many injuries. Notable names to watch out for include goalkeeper Joan Garcia, Raphinha, Gavi and Fermin Lopez. However, this is still considered an opportunity for the Catalan team to affirm their position at home against PSG.
Before the match, midfielder Pedri confidently affirmed that Blaugrana - the team that stopped in the semi-finals last season - is the strongest club in Europe. A win may not be enough to prove it, but it will certainly be an important step forward in Flick's project. However, in the end, it was PSG's night and it is understandable that they felt invincible after an explosive performance in the second half.
"We just saw a great match. When the two teams are not playing badly, ready to attack and make a difference with the ball, the audience will enjoy an eye-catching performance. They played better until the opening match, but we knew how to come back and really dominated in the second half" - Enrique said after the match.
In fact, Barcelona entered the match with great enthusiasm. In the first 2 minutes, Yamal made a spectacular dribble, holding the ball in a situation that seemed to have gone out, rushing straight into PSG's half, overcoming a series of players before assisting Torres. It is a pity that this striker's shot was unsuccessful. That move quickly became a hot topic on social media, promising to be shared millions of times.
Yamal continued to make his mark with a delicate off-field pass to Torres, but the striker's shot was blocked right on the goal line. However, Torres did not miss the third time when he rotated his finely finisher in the penalty area after an assist from Marcus Rashford, putting Barca ahead.
PSG proactively applied pressure from set pieces but did not create many breakthroughs. The match largely revolved around the direct competition between Mendes and Yamal. Before the match, captain Achraf Hakimi confidently affirmed that the "Best left-back in the world" will be able to lock down Yamal, as he did in the UEFA Nations League final earlier this year.
In the last meeting between the two teams in April 2024, Yamal was the one who assisted the opening goal before Ronald Araujo received a red card. At that time, Mendes was helpless in stopping this young talent, but Xavi Hernandez took Yamal off the field to strengthen the defense. PSG finally won.
This time, Mendes has once again become the center of attention. He handled it accurately in the penalty area to stop Yamal in a situation that seemed to have lost, then immediately proved his ability to support the attack. After being fouled roughly by Frenkie de Jong in an acceleration, Mendes provided an assist for Senny Mayulu to score the equalizer. In that situation, the young center back Cubarsi made a mistake when entering the ball inaccurately, opening up an easy opportunity for the opponent.
Right before the break, Mendes received a yellow card for a foul on Yamal, and a few minutes later he continued to repeat the offense. However, luckily for PSG, the game was in their favor after the break, helping Mendes reduce the pressure on their defense. When Barcelona rose up in the second half, he committed another foul right outside the penalty area amid the anger of the audience, but still avoided a second yellow card. Enrique did not hesitate to take Mendes off the field, bringing in Lucas Hernandez.
At that time, Barca played the most impressively in the second half. Dani Olmo had a shot that was blown off the goal line, but the closer it got to the end of the match, the more PSG showed that they were the team capable of winning all 3 points.
When the match seemed to end in a draw, Hakimi suddenly escaped down the right wing, passing the ball for Goncalo Ramos to score the decisive goal.
The 2-1 victory helped PSG end an emotional night at Barcelona. And it will not be surprising if the two teams meet again in the upcoming knockout rounds.
