Doué scores one and makes another, Barça twice come back through Espart and Yamal, and two late goals from Hakimi's crosses end their 11-game winning start.
The numbers
| FC Barcelona | Paris Saint-Germain | |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 53% | 47% |
| Shots | 18 | 22 |
| Shots on target | 5 | 15 |
| xG | 2.23 | 3.7 |
| Big chances | 5 | 6 |
| Corners | 3 | 2 |
Result the chances deserved: FC Barcelona 21% / 14% / Paris Saint-Germain 65% (Poisson).
Starting line-ups
FC Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García, Espart, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Cancelo, Bernal, Pedri, Yamal, Olmo, Gordon, Raphinha.
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Safonov, Hakimi, Marquinhos, Pacho, Lucas Hernández, Vitinha, João Neves, Fabián Ruiz, Doué, Dembélé, Kvaratskhelia.
Paris Saint-Germain subs: Ferran Torres (about 20', Dembélé), Akliouche & Zabarnyi (59', Kvaratskhelia & Marquinhos), Zaïre-Emery & Mayulu (78', Lucas Hernández & Doué).
Booked: Cancelo (17', foul on Doué), the only card of the night. Injuries: Dembélé went off with a thigh problem (FotMob has the change at 20', Sofascore at 17', Goal at 19'); Olmo went off with a left adductor injury, about a month out (beIN Sports); Kvaratskhelia (knee, after a collision with Espart) and Marquinhos went off together at 59' (Goal). Barça were without Koundé, Eric García and Christensen, and Rodri started on the bench. Kvaratskhelia hit the post in the 2nd minute and later had a goal ruled out for offside; Ferran Torres also hit the post (club report). Goal minutes: FotMob, Sofascore and UEFA; the club report has Ruiz's goal at 87' and SI has Yamal's at 77'. Line-ups, positions, xG and big chances: FotMob (SI prints FotMob's xG as 3.73–2.19, LiveScore as 3.74–2.25). Shots on target: 15 per FotMob and beIN Sports (Opta), 14 per LiveScore. Attendance 47,421 (FotMob).
Key moments, move by move
- Yamal plays a pass in Barça's half and João Neves cuts it out.
- Neves finds Doué, who runs at the back line and skips past his marker.
- From just outside the box Doué beats Joan García low into the bottom corner.
- Espart steps up from right-back and plays it inside to Fermín.
- Fermín slides the return pass into the box behind Lucas Hernández.
- Espart drives in and finishes past Safonov from close range.
- PSG win a corner and Doué delivers it.
- Lucas Hernández attacks the ball in the middle of the six-yard area.
- His header beats Joan García and puts PSG back in front.
- A long ball drops on the right, where Zaïre-Emery has just come on at left-back.
- Zaïre-Emery is caught under it and Yamal takes the ball off him.
- Yamal carries it into the box and flicks it past Safonov from a tight angle.
- Hakimi crosses from the right.
- Gerard Martín heads it only as far as the edge of the box.
- Vitinha chests it down and volleys it in, two minutes after Yamal's equaliser.
- Hakimi gets to the byline on the right again.
- His low cross takes a deflection and runs to the far post.
- Fabián Ruiz arrives ahead of Cancelo and taps it in.
Barça had more of the ball, PSG won it back where it hurt
- A patched-up Barça. With Koundé, Eric García and Christensen out and Rodri rested, Flick picked Espart at right-back, Cancelo at left-back and Bernal beside Pedri in a 4-2-3-1 (FotMob, SI). Olmo went off injured at 27'. Barça had 53% of the ball and completed 472 of 539 passes (LiveScore), far fewer than the 750 they played at Betis.
- PSG pressed with their forwards. Luis Enrique: "we were superior in winning back possession in the opposition's half" (Goal). The opener came straight from that: Neves cut out Yamal's pass in Barça's half and Doué scored. PSG had 10 of their 12 first-half shots on target, the most Barça have faced before half-time in the competition since at least 2003/04 (beIN Sports, Opta).
- Hernández on Yamal. Lucas Hernández started at left-back in place of Nuno Mendes, with the job of facing Yamal (Yahoo Sports, FotMob). Yamal still scored and was Barça's best-rated player (FotMob 8.0), but his goal came one minute after Hernández went off and Zaïre-Emery came on.
- The last ten minutes. Flick changed three players at 60', and PSG scored twice from Hakimi's crosses after Barça had drawn level for the second time. Flick: "in the last 10 minutes, the team dropped off" (beIN Sports). The animation shows PSG's press as a schematic; positions are approximate.
Tactical scenes
Late on, PSG kept going down their right. Hakimi overlapped on Barça's left, got to the byline and crossed. Barça's centre-backs dealt with the first ball, but nobody picked up the PSG midfielders arriving behind it: Vitinha volleyed in a half-clearance at the edge of the box, and Fabián Ruiz tapped in a deflected low cross at the far post.
Evidence: Two of PSG's four goals, at 81' and 86', came from Hakimi crosses from the right. Sofascore and FotMob credit him with the assist for Ruiz's goal; Vitinha's came from his cross that Gerard Martín half-cleared (beIN Sports). FotMob rated Hakimi 8.1, and PSG had 22 shots to Barça's 18 (FotMob). beIN Sports report · Sofascore match page · FotMob match page
Recreate it in FM26
Paris Saint-Germain · Paris Saint-Germain's forward press and right-side crosses · 4-3-3Show cardHide card
Paris Saint-Germain's forward press and right-side crosses
| Pos | Player | In Possession | Out of Possession |
|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Safonov | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| RB | Hakimi | Wing-Back | Pressing Full-Back |
| RCB | Marquinhos | Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back |
| LCB | Pacho | Centre-Back | Stopping Centre-Back |
| LB | Lucas Hernández | Full-Back | Holding Full-Back |
| DM | Vitinha | Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder |
| RCM | João Neves | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Pressing Central Midfielder |
| LCM | Fabián Ruiz | Box-to-Box Midfielder | Central Midfielder |
| RW | Doué | Inside Forward | Winger |
| ST | Dembélé | False Nine | Centre Forward |
| LW | Kvaratskhelia | Inside Forward | Winger |
Team instructions
In Possession
- Attacking TransitionCounter-Attack
- Progress ThroughRight
- Shots from DistanceEncouraged
- Crossing StyleLow Crosses
Out of Possession
- Line of EngagementHigh Press
- Trigger PressMore Often
- Defensive TransitionCounter-Press
The idea: Press with the front three and a Pressing Central Midfielder so the ball is won high, and give the Wing-Back on one side the freedom to overlap. You need midfielders who arrive at the edge of the box late.
What FM26 can't copy: FM26 can't reproduce the three PSG injuries that forced changes at 20' and 59'.
Our reading of this match in FM26 terms, not an exported tactic file. Role names as in FM26.
What if? Replay it with a different plan
Our best alternative plan: Formation 4-3-3, De Jong on at 60' (for Bernal), Balde on at 60' (for Cancelo). Start a third midfielder against PSG's press, then bring on De Jong and Balde at 60' to steady the middle and the left. It would not erase the gap in chances, but the last ten minutes were where the game was lost. It moves FC Barcelona's win chance from 21% to 30% (xG 2.23–3.70 becomes 2.33–3.05). Try your own changes to formation, pressing, approach and substitutions.
The game-changer FC Barcelona needed
Frenkie de Jong
PSG's press won the ball in Barça's half and their midfielders arrived unmarked for the late goals. De Jong carries the ball out of pressure and covers ground behind it, the two things Barça lacked.
Declan Rice
Vitinha and Fabián Ruiz scored by arriving at the edge of the box after Hakimi's crosses with nobody tracking them. Rice's job is screening that zone, and he is strong enough on the ball to play through a press.
What the analysts said
“It was a fantastic match, from both teams. PSG showed they are a better team than us.”Hansi Flick after the match (beIN Sports)
“In the end, in the last 10 minutes, the team dropped off, and we conceded the fourth.”Hansi Flick after the match (beIN Sports)
“What happened after Sevilla, with the recovery, wasn't the best. It's not an excuse.”Hansi Flick after the match (beIN Sports)
“The forwards did a great job defensively; we were superior in winning back possession in the opposition's half.”Luis Enrique after the match (Goal)
“It's a bit bittersweet, because the team's victory comes first, but I'm very happy with my first Champions League goal.”Xavi Espart after the match (Yahoo Sports)
Barça kept the ball, but PSG kept getting the chances.
What's happening. Barcelona lost 4–2 in Paris, their first defeat after 11 wins. They came back twice, through Espart and Yamal, and lost to two goals in the last ten minutes. PSG made about 3.7 expected goals to Barça's 2.2 and put 15 shots on target, and Joan García still made 10 saves (FotMob).
How it works. A side that builds short through its own half invites a press. When the press wins the ball there, one pass can reach a shooter, as it did for Doué's opener. The fix is extra bodies around the ball: a third midfielder, a full-back who comes inside. Barça had neither for long. Without Koundé and Eric García, and with Bernal in for Rodri, the passing options thinned out.
What the shots say. PSG's chances were worth almost twice Barça's. One reading: a tired, makeshift back line met the best side Barça have faced, and García kept the score respectable. The other: Barça still made five big chances away at the holders and were level at 79'. Both are true. The worry for Sunday is the number of shots PSG got on target, not the result.