Football News

    PSG 2-3 Barcelona – Player ratings as Raphinha breaks Champions League duck in style

    By James Amey

    Published: 22:15, 10 April 2024

    Barcelona will take a one goal lead back to Spain for the second leg. 

    In another end-to-end Champions League quarter-final, Barcelona came out on top in an entertaining tie in Paris.

    Raphinha opened the scoring after 37 minutes with his first ever Champions League goal after some fantastic work by Lamine Yamal to give Barcelona the lead at the break. However, PSG come out firing and two goals in two minutes from Ousmane Dembele and Vitinha saw them turn the game on it’s head.

    The drama wasn’t finished there though as Barcelona’s substitutes came on to make the difference. First, Pedri expertly found Raphinha to score his second of the match before Andreas Christensen headed his side into the lead just minutes after coming on.

    It mean Xavi’s side are just the third team to beat Paris Saint-Germain after they had gone ahead in a home Champions League match after Deportivo de La Coruña and Manchester City.

    Here’s how the players rated at the Parc des Princes:

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    PSG

    Gianluigi Donnarumma – 6 – Flew out of his box to deny Raphinha in a crucial interverion after just five minutes and made another brilliant save as he tipped the Brazilian’s shot past the post just 15 minutes later. However, he looked nervous with the ball at his feet and only was only saved embarrassment by Nuno Mendes, who cleared the ball off the line when the ‘keeper got nowhere near the Barcelona corner.

    Beraldo – 5.5 – Struggled to deal with Barcelona’s attack and was booked late on for a tactical foul.

    Marquinhos – 7 – Looked much more comfortable when moved centrally, but was very good defensively making some huge blocks and tackles.

    Lucas Hernández – 6 – Was bullied by Raphinha who knocked him to the ground as he ran through.

    Nuno Mendes – 8 – Made a huge clearance off the line to deny Robert Lewandowski in the first half after Donnarumma was in no man’s land from Barca’s corner. As well as doing his defensive work, he also looked a threat going forward, finding Mbappe in the box on more than one occasion.

    Fabián Ruiz – 7 – Played the perfect ball to find Vitinha in the box for PSG’s second goal as he made it two assists in his last three Champions League games.

    Vitinha – 7.5 – Just two minutes after Dembélé drew PSG level, Vitinha burst into the box taking the ball from Fabián Ruiz in his stride before arrowing the ball in the bottom corner past ter Stegen to put his side in front. It was the perfect touch and finish from the Portuguese midfielder who made it three goals and two assists in his last four appearances across all competitions.

    Lee Kang-In – 7 – Created more chances (3) than any other PSG player during his time on the pitch, only misplacing two of his 34 passes, but was replaced after 60 minutes.

    Ousmane Dembélé – 8 – Scored an absolute rocket with his left-foot that was past ter Stegen before he could even move. It was just his second goal for PSG, but it was worth the wait as he drew his side level against the team he played for last season. Became the 10th player to score a Champions League goal both for and against Barcelona.

    Thought he had given his side the lead with just 16 minutes left on the clock, but was unlucky to see his effort rebound back off the post.

    Marco Asensio – 5.5 – Replaced by Bradley Barcola at the break to give PSG something different in attack after struggling to be involved in the opening 45 minutes.

    Kylian Mbappé – 5 – Kept quiet by international teammate Jules Kounde, having just two shots and failing to have a single shot on target whilst completing just one of his five take-ons.

    Substitutes:

    Bradley Barcola (for Asensio 46′) – 6.5 – Offered pace on the right-hand side and was denied expertly by Ronald Araujo after he looked set to score.

    Warren Zaïre-Emery (for Kang-In 61′) – 6 – Has an incredibly bright future.

    Gonçalo Ramos (for Ruiz 86′) – N/A – A late sub.

    Barcelona

    Marc-André ter Stegen – 6.5 – Had no chance with either goal but made some impressive saves.

    Jules Koundé – 8.5 – Kept French teammate Kylian Mbappe quiet, which is not an easy thing to do. Won nine of his 12 duels, did not conceded a single foul and won both of his tackles as he showed once again why he is one of the most impressive defenders in the world at the moment.

    Pau Cubarsí – 7.5 – The youngest defender to start a Champions League quarter-final did not look out of place on the world’s biggest stage and looks composed beyond his years. He is yet to be dribbled past in the competition.

    Ronald Araujo – 7.5 – Made a huge block to deny Barcola in the second half when it looked like the Frenchman was set to put PSG 3-2 in front.

    João Cancelo – 6.5 – Made more tackles (4) and more interceptions (2) than any of his teammates, but struggled to deal with Dembele at times.

    Ilkay Gündogan – 7.5 – Created more chances than any other Barcelona player on the pitch (4) and has now created more chances in the Champions League this season (24). No player has more assists in the Champions League this season (4).

    Frenkie de Jong – 6 – Kept Barcelona ticking over as normal, completing 92% of his passes.

    Sergi Roberto – 6 – Booked for a foul in the first half and will now miss the second leg. Replaced after 61 minutes.

    Raphinha – 9 – Scored his first ever Champions League goal in his 11th appearance in the competition after twice being denied by Donnarumma earlier in the game. Added a second to draw Barca level in the second-half with an incredible finish after being found by Pedri with a fine ball to make it six goals and seven assists in his last 14 starts in all competitions.

    Became just the third Barcelona player to score twice away from home in a Champions League quarter-final, after Zlatan Ibrahimovic against Arsenal in 2010 and Luis Suárez against Paris Saint-Germain in 2015.

    Robert Lewandowski – 6.5 – Saw his header cleared off the line by Nuno Mendes before he uncharacteristically got his angles all mixed up as he messed up another header later on.

    Lamine Yamal – 7 – Became the youngest ever player to start a Champions League quarter-final and it was his superb ball in that led to Donnarumma palming the ball to Raphinha to fire Barcelona into the lead. Subbed

    Substitutes:

    Pedri (for Sergi Roberto 61′) – 7 – Made an instant impact off the bench with a fantastic ball and assist for Raphinha’s second goal of the game.

    João Félix (for Lamine Yamal 61′) – 6 – Struggled to get involved.

    Andreas Christensen (for De Jong 76′) – 7 – Scored just his second Champions League goal with his first touch of the game.

    Ferran Torres (for Raphinha 76′) – 6 – Always difficult replacing a player that has been the best player on the pitch.

    Fermín López (for Gundogan 86′) – N/A – A late sub. Booked for dissent.

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