Barcelona played their first UEFA Champions League quarterfinal in four years last night as they took on PSG at the Parc des Princes.
Travelling to Paris, the Catalans’ objective on the night was to set up a favourable situation. Raphinha’s goal in the first half, thus, placed them well to do so.
Barcelona led at half-time after a dominant 45-minute show, but former star Ousmane Dembele had other plans. The winger pulled one back for PSG before Vitinha sent the hosts ahead less than a minute later.
Raphinha completed his brace and brought Barcelona back into the game at the hour mark, and substitute Andreas Christensen won it for the Catalans just over 15 minutes later.
Barça Universal brings you the player ratings from Barcelona’s performance at Parc des Princes.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen: 6.5
The German international was not called into action as frequently as he would have expected, yet came up clutch in the first period with three saves including two from inside the box.
Not much he could do about the first goal conceded but was poor and caught off guard by Vitinha’s strike.
Joao Cancelo: 7.5
The Portuguese star shone on the left flank for Barcelona, pushing high in attack and effectively covering on PSG’s counters. His final ball, however, consistently lacked quality.
Pau Cubarsi: 7
Cubarsi showed less nerves of the two teenagers on the field as he struck up a great partnership with Ronald Araujo in the first half to keep PSG silent.
His sliding effort for Vitinha’s goal was questionable, but Cubarsi largely remained calm even after the restart. Completed the game with six defensive actions and 89% pass accuracy.
Ronald Araujo: 8
The Uruguayan was sensational on the night, timing challenges to perfection and not over-committing at any point in the game. Kept Mbappe relatively silent, and was on point with his distribution as well.
Jules Kounde: 8
The French defender put up a good show at right-back, not only defensively but also as a contributor in the buildup in the final third. Going up against Mbappe, however, he was inevitably dribbled past on occasion.
Frenkie de Jong: 7.5
Coming back from injury, Frenkie de Jong took over as Barcelona’s defensive midfielder on the night and clocked a decent first half with solid distribution and defensive contributions. Completed 92% of his passes and won 100% ground duels on the night.
Sergi Roberto: 6.5
While Roberto failed to exert his dominance in the midfield, he did churn out a decent display in the first half.
Gave the ball away in the buildup to Dembele’s goal, giving PSG a route back into the game. Moroever, he earned a yellow card and will miss the return fixture.
Ilkay Gundogan: 8.5
Having De Jong and Roberto to cover in deep midfield, Ilkay Gundogan was finally freed from the shackles and drifted forward to the attacking midfield role he loves.
Needless to say, his performance showed why he was deservedly a treble-winning captain. In 86 minutes, Gundogan completed four key passes, created one big chance and was constantly looking to thread the ball through the French defence.
Raphinha: 10
Raphinha was, by far, Barcelona’s best player in attack tonight as he constantly threatened with vertical runs in the PSG area. He recorded two shots and two key passes in the first half alone in addition to his ice-cool finish to put the team ahead.
Made another sensational run into the box at the hour mark to get onto the end of Pedri’s lobbed pass and put it past Gigi Donnarumma first time to equalise the scoreline. The Brazilian flair Barcelona needed.
Robert Lewandowski: 9
The Polish striker may not have got into the right shooting positions, but there was a whole lot more to his performance last night apart from the finishing.
Lewandowski was sensational with his back to goal, constantly making the right decisions in terms of distribution and orchestrating the attack. Further, his presence in the box dragged defenders away from players like Raphinha and Yamal who threatened on the counter.
Lamine Yamal: 6
The youngster was understandably nervy playing in such a high-stakes game at a tender age, and his nerves were visible throughout the first half.
Yamal did make some fine dribbles down the right, but his overall decision-making and passing range on the night was compromised. He was sloppy, especially with his shots and lobbed balls, and served as the team’s weak link in attack.
Not a poor performance in any sense, but underwhelming for the player’s astronomical standards.
Substitutes
Joao Felix: 6.5
Threatened with a long-range shot on one occasion but did not have too much more to boast of.
Pedri: 8
Came on, touched the ball and in his first action, lobbed it over the entire PSG defence to find Raphinha for the team’s equaliser.
Andreas Christensen: 8
Did Pedri one better by scoring with his first touch after coming on, Christensen gave Barcelona the lead with a great header in the 77th minute. Great way to celebrate his 28th birthday.
Ferran Torres: NA
Came on too late to make a tangible impact.
Fermin Lopez: NA
Arrived too late on the field to warrant a rating.
