Leboeuf praises PSG’s ‘statement’ UCL win vs. Barcelona (1:20)Frank Leboeuf reacts to PSG’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a bid to retain their Champions League crown and praises Nuno Mendes’ performance. (1:20)
The stadium emptied pretty quickly after that, except for the 3,000 traveling French fans, who celebrated long after the final whistle as their players partied in front of them. Given the circumstances and the quality of opposition, this was a win that will breed confidence in the European champions — if that is needed — in the absence of not just Dembélé, Doué and Kvaratskhelia, but also center back Marquinhos.
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“We’ve seen an excellent game,” Luis Enrique said. “When you see two teams who don’t kick each other, who go out to play and to do damage with the ball, you get a really good spectacle. They were better until their goal. We recovered well. We were better in the second half.”
But we never got to enjoy the full spectacle the last time Barça and PSG met in April 2024. Yamal created the first goal before Ronald Araújo was sent off. Mendes could not stop him, but his coach at the time, Xavi Hernández did, taking him off to add another defender. PSG went on to win.
On Wednesday, Mendes managed to bundle Yamal off the ball in the box when it looked as if the star attacker might have escaped, and the Portuguese fullback then showed off his own attacking capabilities. He was cynically fouled by Frenkie de Jong on one driving run forward, then on another moments later, he set up Mayulu for the equalizer. Cubarsí won’t want to see the replay of his ill-timed challenge on the young PSG striker, which opened up his path to goal all too easily.
That came in the middle of Barça’s best spell in the second half. Dani Olmo also had a shot cleared off the line, but as the game moved on, and both teams would have been forgiven for accepting a point, it was PSG who looked the more likely winners.
“They had more of the ball,” García conceded. “We didn’t press as well as in the first half and when you’re chasing the ball, you tire quicker. They had chances.”
It brought the curtains down on an action-packed night in Barcelona. It wouldn’t be surprising if these two teams meet again later in the competition.
Leboeuf praises PSG’s ‘statement’ UCL win vs. Barcelona (1:20)Frank Leboeuf reacts to PSG’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a bid to retain their Champions League crown and praises Nuno Mendes’ performance. (1:20)
Frank Leboeuf reacts to PSG’s 2-1 victory over Barcelona in a bid to retain their Champions League crown and praises Nuno Mendes’ performance. (1:20)
BARCELONA, Spain — As early statements in the UEFA Champions League go, Paris Saint-Germain delivered a pretty big one by beating Barcelona 2-1 on Wednesday — especially considering they were without their stellar front three of Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia because of injury.
