Barca’s record-breaking youngsters led by Raphinha outshine PSG’S Mbappe
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.
In the other quarterfinal Atletico Madrid held off a late Borussia Dortmund fightback to win 2-1 and grab a slender advantage.
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 equaliser 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 Mbappe.
Ousmane Dembele struck against his old club, and Vitinha briefly put the French giants in front, only for Barcelona to recover in stunning fashion 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 and gives Barca a lead to defend at home in the return next Tuesday.
Kylian Mbappe has earned a reputation as a player who delivers on the biggest occasions, but the France superstar for once struggled to make an impact and will have to to be at his best in that game if they are to reach the semifinals for what would be just the third time in 13 years since the transformative Qatari takeover of the club.
"I don't speak about individual players after a game, especially after a defeat," insisted Paris coach Luis Enrique, refusing to criticise his star forward's performance. "I speak about the team, about my work. There are a lot of things to improve. "The coach is of course the number one person responsible and I accept it that way."
In searching for reasons why PSG lost and why Mbappe struggled, the finger could be pointed at the tactics chosen by Luis Enrique.
His decision to select Marco Asensio in the starting line-up did not pay off, and the Ligue 1 side were much improved after the Spaniard was replaced by Bradley Barcola at halftime.
That move saw Dembele switch from the right wing to a position much closer to Mbappe, and both Dembele and Barcola hit the woodwork in the second half.
Luis Enrique's handling of Mbappe in recent weeks is also up for debate, given that the 25-yearold has only completed 90 minutes in one of PSG'S seven league games since he confirmed his departure at the end of the season. Was Mbappe not sharp enough as a result?
"I don't think it had anything to do with his lack of playing time. I got the impression he wasn't interested," said Samir Nasri, the former Arsenal, Manchester City and France star who is now a pundit.
"Without him PSG can't do anything. They need Mbappe to be at his best if they are to qualify."
Credit should also go to the Barcelona defence for their handling of a player they are likely to see more of in the future, given that Real Madrid is his expected next destination.