PSG defeats Barça but is concerned about Kvaratskhelia and Dembélé
Both PSG and Barça had won their first two Champions League matches, and the French side entered the game as the leader thanks to a better goal differential.
Paris Saint-Germain emerged victorious 4-2 in the marquee third-matchday Champions League fixture against Barcelona, which had been unstoppable so far this season, on Tuesday, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Marquinhos, and Dani Olmo injured.
Vitinha (81') and Fabián Ruiz (86') decided a contest that had been tied heading into the final stretch after the home team took the lead twice, with goals by Désiré Doué (38') and Lucas Hernandez (73'), and the Catalans had equalized thanks to Xavi Espart (55') and Lamine Yamal (79').
"We're a team that knows how to adapt to what's happening on the field," PSG's Spanish coach Luis Enrique said with pride.
Both PSG and Barça had won their first two matches in this Champions League campaign, and the French side entered the game with a 9-point lead on goal difference, while the Catalans remained on 6 points.
Barça is showing its first signs of vulnerability this season, just before hosting Real Madrid on Sunday in Spain's big LaLiga Clásico.
A flurry of injuries
The big question mark for PSG and Barça's next two matches will be the injured players' physical condition.
Alarm bells rang especially loudly for the Parisians in the 58th minute, when two of their players, Kvaratskhelia and Marquinhos, were forced to leave the game.
There was particular concern about the Georgian, who was injured in a collision with Xavi Espart and had to be carried off the field with the help of two members of the medical staff, unable to put any weight on his right leg.
Prior to that, PSG had seen their Ballon d'Or winner, Ousmane Dembélé, leave the game; in the 19th minute, he had to give up his spot in the Parisian attack to Ferran Torres after a burst of speed, during which he grabbed the back of his left thigh.
"We'll have to wait for the medical tests, but three key players are injured. That's the bad news of the night," Luis Enrique admitted.
Shortly afterward, in the 26th minute, Barcelona's Olmo suffered an adductor injury and also asked to be substituted, visibly upset.
"A Parisian massacre"
The first half had been preceded by a massive tifo display in one of the stands, in which a masked figure used a chainsaw to destroy a Barcelona crest alongside an intimidating message: "Parisian-style massacre."
They gave an early warning in the second minute with a shot off the post by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and then goalkeeper Joan García made spectacular saves against Ferran Torres (25', 29').
PSG was rewarded for its persistence in the 38th minute, when Yamal misplaced a pass and Doué recovered the ball, set himself up for a shot, and fired a strike from the edge of the box that became the opening goal.
Fermín López, with two great chances in the 39th minute, came close to tying the game before halftime, but first he was denied by a saving hand from goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, and then Brazilian Marquinhos cleared the ball off the line.
A double blow at the end
Fermín was then able to make amends by providing the assist for 19-year-old Xavi Espart to tie the game in the 55th minute, moments before Marquinhos and Kvaratskhelia were substituted for a PSG side that caught its breath in the 73rd minute, when Lucas Hernandez scored the provisional 2-1 goal with a header off a corner kick.
Yamal tied the score again in the 79th minute with a shot from inside the box at a tight angle.
But then came PSG's final, decisive reaction: the Portuguese player Vitinha scored first in the 81st minute with a shot from the edge of the box, and the Spaniard Fabián Ruiz, who had just become a father, easily scored the final 4-2 goal in the 86th minute, sparking celebrations at Parc des Princes.
"It was a fantastic game by both teams , and they proved to be better than us. In the last ten minutes, we weren't fresh," Barcelona's coach, the German Hansi Flick, admitted.
With information from AFP.
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