Desire Doue gave Paris Saint-Germain the lead against Barcelona in a frantic first half that saw Ousmane Dembele and Dani Olmo forced off with injuries.
PSG made a bright start to the blockbuster Champions League encounter at the Parc des Princes, with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia hitting the post in the early stages.
Barcelona, though, responded well and saw Anthony Gordon waste an opportunity to open the scoring at the far post.
Having survived that scare, greater cause for concern for PSG came when former Barcelona forward Dembele pulled up holding his thigh, with the Ballon d’Or holder quickly replaced by Ferran Torres, who left Camp Nou to join Luis Enrique’s men this summer, in the 20th minute.
Torres was denied the opening goal by Joan Garcia after latching onto an excellent pass from Joao Neves. Soon after that opportunity, Barca’s hopes of victory suffered a setback as an injury ended Dani Olmo’s involvement in the game, Fermin Lopez entering the fray in his stead.
Further heroics from Garcia were required as he thwarted Torres and Fabian Ruiz with a stunning double save. Barcelona continued to ride their luck, and they were fortunate to see Michael Oliver wave away claims for a penalty despite Xavi Espart holding Kvaratskheila for an extended period in the area.
PSG’s pressure told in the 43rd minute as Doue punished Barcelona for conceding possession deep in their own half, his vicious strike from the edge of the area flying beyond the outstretched arm of Garcia and finding the bottom-left corner.
Fermin Lopez spurned a chance to swiftly restore parity when he failed to loft the ball over Matvey Safonov after being played through on goal, though the half fittingly ended with Garcia making a diving save to repel Kvaratskheila’s curling effort.
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