UCL: Barça defeat PSG in Paris, as Atlético exploits Dortmund’s lapses in Spain

The second round of games in the quarter-final of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League (UCL) season ended in a hard-fought 3-2 win for Barcelona against Paris Saint Germain and a 2-1 win for Atlético Madrid over Borussia Dortmund.

While Atlético made their winning intent known from the blast of the whistle, Barça had to fight back a stubborn PSG to scoop all three points, thanks to Xavi Hernandez’s poignant substitutions, as he showed Luis Enrique who the boss is, following the 53-year-old’s acclaimed superiority on Tuesday.

Xavi’s masterclass in PSG vs Barça’s clash

After a keenly contested opening thirty minutes between both sides in Paris, Raphinha opened the scoring for the Catalan giants, as he capitalised on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s blunder to give his side the lead into the break.

Three minutes into the second half, an emotionally detached Ousmane Dembele took advantage of Ronald Araújo’s poor clearance to draw one back for PSG against his former side after which he jubilated in front of the Parc des Princes crowd.

It appeared Enrique’s side were gunning for a comeback win, as Vitinha buried Fabián Ruiz’s pass to put the League 1 side ahead in the 51st minute.

Xavi’s changes will, however, influence the direction of the match. Following 38 days on the sidelines due to injury, it took Pedri 51 seconds to provide an assist after coming off the bench, as the Spaniard set up Raphinha for his brace.

Andreas Christensen who was subsequently introduced in the 75th minute grabbed the winner for Barcelona in the 77th minute. The ex-Chelsea defender converted from Ikay Gündoğan’s corner to give his side the advantage into the second leg.

Atlético’s 2-1 win over blunder-prone Dortmund

Atlético Madrid’s win over Borussia Dortmund at the Wanda Metropolitano was largely down to the defensive mishaps from the German side.

The Diego Simeone-led side got their lead barely five minutes into the match, as Ian Maatsen’s attempted pass was intercepted by Rodrigo De Paul who calmly poked home past Gregor Kobel.

About 13 minutes to the end of the second half, the Spanish club doubled their lead through Samuel Lino who was played on by Antoine Griezmann’s pass, after the latter leveraged a miscommunication between Mats Hummels and Nico Schlotterbeck.

Sebastian Haller halved the deficit for Dortmund in the 81st minute, but the home side resisted relinquishing their lead ahead of the return leg at Signal Iduna Park.

Haller’s goal was the 18th goal witnessed in the UCL this week, following the thrilling draws witnessed in the opening games on Tuesday.