Champions League: Barcelona beat PSG in thriller to seize edge in tie

Paris Saint-Germain suffered a 2-3 defeat against Barcelona on Wednesday night at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of the championship quarter-finals.

Andreas Christensen came off the bench to head in the winning goal as Barcelona won 3-2 away to Paris Saint-Germain in a remarkable first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday, April 10. Raphinha had earlier scored twice for the Catalans at the Parc des Princes, slotting in the opener late in the first half and then volleying in an equalizer to make it 2-2 just after the hour mark.

In between, PSG had turned the game around as they awoke from a poor first-half display by starting in electrifying fashion after the restart with two goals in six minutes, neither coming from Kylian Mbappé. Ousmane Dembélé struck against his old club, and Vitinha briefly put the French giants in front, only for Barcelona to recover stunningly to take control of the tie. Christensen’s goal, which came just after he had been introduced as a substitute on his 28th birthday, ended PSG’s 27-game unbeaten run, giving Barca a lead to defend at home in the return next Tuesday.

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Appearing in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in four years and since the departure of Lionel Messi, Barcelona grew into this game and almost went ahead on 20 minutes.

That second leg will be played at Montjuic, the Catalan club’s temporary home, rather than Camp Nou, the scene of Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 win over PSG in 2017 and a lethal Mbappé hat-trick in a 2021 meeting of the teams.

The Parisians were widely seen as the favorites coming into this tie, in large part thanks to the presence of Mbappé and Dembélé in attack. But Paris struggled to live up to it, with Mbappé for once unable to deliver in a big game.