AFP
Paris
Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) overcame the absence of their injured talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic to beat Barcelona 3-2 in a thrilling Champions League Group F encounter at the Parc des Princes yesterday.
The Catalans, who had not even conceded a goal all season in seven matches before this one, fell behind inside 10 minutes when David Luiz prodded in his first PSG goal.
Barcelona needed just two minutes to draw level thanks to a marvellous Lionel Messi strike, but Marco Verratti headed the hosts back in front after 26 minutes and Blaise Matuidi added another in the 54th minute.
Neymar reduced the deficit, yet Paris held on for their first win in the group after a 1-1 draw at Ajax two weeks ago, while Barca failed to build on a narrow 1-0 win over APOEL of Cyprus in their first outing.
Barcelona arrived in France in fine form but this was billed as their biggest test since the arrival of Luis Enrique as coach in the summer, even if their hosts were denied the services of Ezequiel Lavezzi and captain Thiago Silva as well as the prolific Ibrahimovic.
In another Champions League match in Lisbon yesterday, Nemanja Matic’s header gave Chelsea a 1-0 win at Sporting Lisbon and inflicted a home defeat on the Portuguese side for the first time in four years of European competition.