ANDREAS Christensen headed the winner as Barcelona beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 at the Parc des Princes in Wednesday’s first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie.
Raphinha equalised for Barca with his second goal of the night before Christensen nodded in from a corner in the 77th minute.
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.
That second leg will be played at Montjuic, the Catalan club’s temporary home, rather than the Camp Nou, the scene of Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 win over PSG in 2017 and of a lethal Mbappe hat-trick in a 2021 meeting of the teams.
The Parisians were widely seen as the favourites coming into this tie, in large part thanks to the presence of Mbappe and Dembele in attack.
Security measures were reinforced at all of this week’s quarter-finals after the Islamic State group made threats against stadiums.
In the night’s other match, Atletico Madrid earned a 2-1 first-leg victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, surviving a late onslaught from the visitors.
Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino’s first-half goals gave Diego Simeone’s side a commanding lead but Sebastien Haller pulled one back to give the German side a foothold in the tie ahead of next week’s return in Dortmund.
Edin Terzic’s side, fifth in the Bundesliga, improved greatly after a slow start and hit the woodwork twice in the final stages of a match which saw security measures reinforced after the Islamic State (IS) group made threats against stadiums used for last-eight ties.
Atletico Madrid had flown out of the traps, keen to grasp a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.
