Barcelona shocked PSG at the Parc des Princes, winning 3-2 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-finals. The two teams produced a real spectacle full of twists and turns that ultimately saw the Catalans jubilant as they inch closer to the semi-finals ahead of the second leg at the Camp Nou next week.
Brazilian Rafinha, who scored his first 2 goals in the Champions League, played a key role in the success, writes gol.bg. He opened the scoring in the 37th minute. The goal came after the break. Within 3 minutes, the Parisians made a complete turnaround after goals from Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha. However, Barca bounced back and in turn produced another turnaround to take the giant step towards the next phase of the tournament. First Rafinha equalized, and then reserve Christensen brought the success.
The match at the Parc des Princes began with an apparent attempt at home pressure by PSG. However, Barcelona did more than well in defense and did not allow any danger in front of Ter Stegen’s goal. However, the first real danger came in front of the hosts in the 6th minute, but Donnarumma managed to outrun the Catalans’ keeper Rafinha.
The Parisians responded with a shot to Asensio from the arc of the penalty, but the German goalkeeper did not flinch. The Blaugranas had their first real shot of the match only in the 20th minute, but Rafinha’s shot was blocked.
Shortly after, the Catalans missed an excellent opportunity. Donnarumma didn’t intervene in the best way after a corner, which Lewandowski headed in, but Mendes cleared just in front of the goal line. Another shot from Rafinha followed, but Donnarumma had no problem parrying it away.
Bad news struck Barcelona in the 35th minute. Sergi Roberto then received a yellow card that would knock him out of the second leg.
In the 37th minute, the excited Catalans opened the scoring. Lewandowski found Yamal on the right flank, then the 16-year-old pearl tried to pass to the Pole again with an outside volley. However, the ball fell to Rafinha, who from the penalty spot sent the ball into Donnarumma’s net, punishing the third unread exit of the Italian guard – 0:1. Thus, the Brazilian scored his debut goal in the Champions League.
PSG failed to respond until the break. Thus, the two teams retired to the dressing rooms with a minimal lead for the guests.
After the break, the hosts went on the attack and Luis Enrique replaced Asensio with Bradley Barcola. The first danger for Ter Stegen came after Vitinia’s inaccurate shot.
In the 48th minute, however, Ter Stegen was checked. Mbappe broke through from the left, then the ball fell to Dembele and he leveled with a powerful shot for 1:1, scoring for his former team, for which he played for 6 seasons.
PSG struck their second dagger just 180 seconds later. Fabian Ruiz passed to Vitinya, who flew at speed into the penalty and sent the ball into the net for the complete turnaround – 2:1.
In the 55th minute, Barcola hit the crossbar with a penalty shot.
However, after PSG’s strong minutes, Barca did not get knocked out, and on the contrary, the Catalans went looking for at least an equaliser.
It became a fact in the 62nd minute. The newly entered Pedri perfectly found Rafinha, who volleyed with an outside foul from the penalty spot and scored his second goal in the match -2:2.
Shortly after, Dembele got behind the visitors’ defense and immediately shot, but his shot only hit the post. The ex-Barcelona player showed his desire to sign for the Catalans once again.
However, that was not all and Barca reached a new twist. Christensen scored after taking a corner kick in the 77th minute. The curious thing is that the Dane also appeared on the field just minutes before realizing the new twist in the meeting.
No new goals were scored until the end and Barca came close to qualifying for the semi-finals.
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