The champion punishes an exhausted Barça in a cruel ending

For Barça, the match felt eternal and they ended up paying dearly for the effort. Perhaps fate will offer them a new opportunity in this Champions League, and then everything could be different.

An eleven affected by absences

Without the presence of Araujo or Lewandowski from the start, Flick opted for the pair Eric García – Cubarsí in defense and relied on Ferran Torres to complete the attack alongside Rashford and Lamine Yamal. The young player from Rocafonda, as expected, was a starter and in the first play already lifted the crowd with a triple dribble and a through pass after a roulette. Barça needed his magic. On the PSG side, Luis Enrique recovered Vitinha but lost Joao Neves, who felt discomfort during warm-up. In his place, Zaire-Emery came in the midfield. The Asturian coach opted for a very young attack with an average age of 19.6 years: Mbaye (17), Mayulu (19), and Barcola (23), who ended up being the protagonists.

Lamine Yamal creates, Ferran opens the scoring

Lamine´s talent made a difference again. With a luxurious outside pass, he set up Ferran, who after cutting past Chevalier faced a clearance from Zabarnyi under the goal. In the next action, the ´shark´ did not miss. Ferran justified Flick´s trust by diving in to finish a perfect pass from Rashford and put Barça ahead in the 18th minute. The play was born from intense pressure on Vitinha that caused the Portuguese´s error. Eric called for a penalty for contact with Zabarnyi, but VAR did not grant it. The atmosphere in Montjuïc heated up even more.

Mayulu strikes back

PSG pushed forward and began to generate danger. Szczesny saved a free kick from Hakimi with a great intervention, but in the 38th minute, the equalizer came. Nuno Mendes broke through on the left, Frenkie de Jong, affected by his yellow card, did not dare to stop him, Cubarsí failed to make the cut, and Mayulu finished with his left foot against Tek, who could do nothing. The blow almost became greater before halftime when Barcola missed an open goal. Barça held on thanks to Lamine, who forced a yellow card on Nuno Mendes and affected his game.

The fatigue shows in the second half

Upon resumption, PSG came out more incisive. Mbaye with an electric slalom and Barcola with a shot forced Tek to intervene. The crowd went from indignation over Nuno Mendes´ non-expulsion to desperation over a ball that Hakimi saved under the goal after a shot from Olmo. However, Barça regained some oxygen and began to show signs of life. With 20 minutes left, Flick made substitutions: Lewandowski, Marc Casadó, and Balde came in, later joined by Marc Bernal for Pedri, who was heavily targeted by fouls, and Christensen for Eric, who ended up exhausted.

The champion strikes in the final stretch

Luis Enrique detected the culé fatigue and also adjusted his team. One of the newcomers, Kang-In Lee, came close to scoring with a shot that hit the post. Tek had to appear again to stop a header from Nuno Mendes after a corner. The final minutes felt endless for an exhausted Barça. And then came the blow. In the 90th minute, Hakimi ran unopposed down the wing and assisted Gonçalo Ramos, who finished to complete the comeback. A very cruel ending for a Barça that gave it their all but could not withstand the push of the champion.