Champions League holders Paris Saint Germain stunned Barcelona with a 90th-minute Gonçalo Ramos winner to claim a 2-1 away victory in the league stage on Wednesday.
Ferran Torres sent hosts Barcelona ahead with a cool finish, but Senny Mayulu fired a depleted PSG level before half-time.
It was an even and thoroughly entertaining bout between two of the competition’s favourites at the Olympic Stadium, eventually settled by Ramos’ late strike as PSG exploited Barça’s high defensive line.
Hansi Flick selected Torres over veteran striker Robert Lewandowski and also benched Ronald Araújo for Eric García, after the Uruguayan’s red card against PSG in 2024.
PSG coach Luis Enrique, who won the treble with Barcelona in 2015, was missing several key players. His side had to hold on at times but ultimately overcame last season’s semi-finalists.
Barcelona and PSG have endured a tense relationship over the past decade. The Catalans famously staged one of the greatest comebacks in football history in 2017, with a 6-1 win over the Parisians.
Relations worsened after PSG snatched Neymar and later signed all-time Barça great Lionel Messi. On this return to Catalonia, Luis Enrique’s injury-hit team was shorn of star names.
Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé and regular attacking partners Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were all absent, although midfielders Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz recovered in time to start.
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From kick-off, Barça starlet Lamine Yamal was eager to prove a point. After finishing as runner-up behind Dembélé, the teenager looked to stake his claim for next year’s award.
Yamal pirouetted away from two defenders and slipped past Nuno Mendes as a statement of intent, beginning an enthralling duel with PSG’s left-back. Mendes, who shut him down for Portugal in the Nations League this summer, dispossessed the winger in the box minutes later to strike back in their personal battle.
Yamal created the first clear chance with a sensational outside-of-the-boot pass to send Torres through. The Spaniard rounded goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier but Illia Zabarnyi slid in to block his effort.
Barcelona took the lead in the 19th minute after Yamal and Pedri combined quickly, with Torres slotting home from Marcus Rashford’s sharp first-time pass. On loan from Manchester United, Rashford has now created goals in each of his last four appearances for Barcelona.
After half an hour, PSG grew into the game and forced Wojciech Szczęsny into his first save, tipping Achraf Hakimi’s free-kick around the post.
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Marauding Mendes
Mendes gave Yamal a taste of his own medicine by blazing downfield, cutting through Barça players before being halted by a desperate Frenkie de Jong challenge. It showed his pace was the best weapon to hurt Barcelona, and he repeated the trick to create PSG’s equaliser.
Driving into Barça territory, Mendes’ pass was misjudged by Pau Cubarsí, allowing 19-year-old striker Mayulu to fire past Szczesny from the edge of the area in the 38th minute.
Bradley Barcola went close twice, firing narrowly over and then forcing Szczesny into a strong save either side of half-time, as the European champions shifted into a higher gear.
PSG were fortunate Mendes was not dismissed for a second yellow after felling Yamal on the edge of the box, as the pendulum swung back Barcelona’s way.
Dani Olmo’s shot was cleared off the line by Hakimi, while PSG’s Kang-in Lee curled an effort against the post as the match entered its final stages.
Eventually, Ramos secured three points for PSG. Staying onside to collect Hakimi’s pass after the Moroccan broke in behind the defence, he tapped home the decisive goal.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
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