It was a quiet night for Kylian Mbappe with his fellow French defender keeping him in check all through the 90 minutes of play in the first leg quarter-final match of the UEFA Champions League. Luiz Enrique lost his first match against his former player and Captain; Xavi Hernades as FC Barcelona secured a valuable 3-2 win against PSG at the famous Parc Des Prince stadium in Paris. Barcelona, the former five-time champions came from behind to earn a slender advantage over Paris St-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in France. Xavi’s side were in danger of being overawed by a hostile Parisian crowd, but the Barcelona boss used his bench to magnificent effect to turn the tie in their favour. Brazil winger Raphinha gave the Catalan side the lead, sweeping home a loose ball for his first Champions League goal after Gianluigi Donnarumma could only parry a low cross. PSG responded immediately after the breakthrough Ousmane Dembele fired into the roof of the net after a poor clearance and Vitinha found the far corner after being fed down the right. Substitute Bradley Barcola then hit the bar for the hosts as they swarmed all over a Barcelona side playing at this stage of the competition for the first time since 2020. Spain midfielder Pedri was introduced, and his impact was immediate with a delightful ball over the PSG defence superbly volleyed home by Raphinha with the outside of his right foot. Dembele clipped the outside of the post as both sides pressed, but it was Barcelona sub-Andreas Christensen who found the winner, heading home a corner from four yards after being left unmarked in the centre of the goal. In Madrid, home side, Atletico also won 2-1 against Borussia Dortmund. An early goal by Rodrigo De Paul in the 4th minute set the host side rolling and Lino doubled the lead just before halftime with an assist from Antoine Griezmann giving the side a comfortable lead. Haller however, pegged the lead in the 81st minute to leave the score line at 2-1. The second leg matches will take place in Spain and Germany.
