Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 in a Parc des Princes classic on Tuesday night, Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz scoring in the final nine minutes to settle a Champions League thriller. Désiré Doué had given the holders a half-time lead and, after Xavi Espart and Lamine Yamal twice dragged Barcelona level, Lucas Hernández, Vitinha and Fabián struck in a frantic finish that keeps PSG perfect at the top of the league phase.
Doué strikes, both benches hit by injuries
The night began with a blow for the hosts. Ousmane Dembélé was forced off inside 20 minutes with an apparent hamstring injury, a moment that overshadowed the result for Luis Enrique and was tracked live as the Dembélé injury news broke. Barcelona lost Dani Olmo to injury soon after, on 26 minutes, and the visitors' problems deepened when Doué pounced on a Yamal error outside the box on 38 minutes and fired an unstoppable shot into the corner, as USA Today's live coverage recorded.
Barcelona owed their half-time deficit being only one goal to goalkeeper Joan García, who made save after save as PSG racked up shots. The pattern barely changed after the break, yet on 55 minutes Barcelona levelled against the run of play: Fermín López sent Xavi Espart through and the young full-back, on his first Champions League start, finished to make it 1-1.
Four goals in a wild final 20 minutes
What followed was chaos. On 72 minutes Hernández rose to head in a Doué corner and restore PSG's lead — his first goal since February 2024 — only for Yamal to produce the moment of the night seven minutes later, beating his man on the right and toe-poking the ball into the roof of the net from an impossible angle for 2-2, as The Times' Champions League live blog described it.
PSG simply went again. Two minutes later Vitinha chested down a clearance on the edge of the box and drilled in a half-volley for 3-2, and on 86 minutes Achraf Hakimi crossed for Fabián to tap in the fourth. There were no red cards — João Cancelo's yellow was the game's only booking — and the shot count finished level at 20 apiece, although PSG's 14 efforts on target to Barcelona's nine told the story of García's heroics in a losing cause.
So what: PSG perfect, Barcelona's first defeat
The result leaves the holders top of the league phase with nine points from nine, three wins from three after last week's 4-2 victory at Manchester City, and firmly on course for the top eight and automatic qualification for the last 16. Barcelona drop their first points of the entire season in any competition — they had won every La Liga match and beaten Feyenoord and Galatasaray — and sit on six points ahead of El Clásico this weekend, with the wider table taking shape in the latest league-phase standings.
The one shadow over Paris is the treatment room. Enrique arrived at this game with a plan built around stopping Yamal — his blueprint to contain the teenager was set out before kick-off — and leaves it with Dembélé injured, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia also hurt during the game and doubts multiplying before the league phase resumes on 4 November.
Beyond the Final Whistle: this is why PSG are champions of Europe. Barcelona twice hauled themselves off the canvas, Yamal produced a goal for the ages, and still the holders had another gear — three goals from midfield and full-back in the last 20 minutes is the mark of a squad built to win games in waves. Enrique's side are the team to beat again; Flick's first defeat will sting, but conceding four to this attack is no disgrace. Was this the best game of the league phase so far? Let us know in the comments.
