Champions League. Willian Pacho played all 90 minutes as Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday, handing Hansi Flick’s side their first defeat of the season in any competition, according to ESPN. PSG have won all three of their league-phase games and lead with 9 points.
How the game went
Désiré Doué opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a finish from 20 yards, and Xavi Espart equalized for Barcelona ten minutes after the break. Lucas Hernández headed PSG back in front from a corner in the 72nd minute, Lamine Yamal made it 2-2 with an individual goal in the 79th, and Vitinha (81st) and Fabián Ruiz (86th) won it late. Both teams lost a key player to injury in the first half: Ousmane Dembélé went off after 20 minutes and Dani Olmo after 27, in what Barcelona’s own website said was his 100th game for the club.
PSG started with Pacho next to Marquinhos in the middle of a back four, with Achraf Hakimi and Hernández at full-back. Marquinhos came off on the hour for Ilya Zabarnyi, and Pacho finished the game alongside the Ukrainian.
Pacho’s night
Pacho’s best moment came in the 88th minute. With Barcelona pushing for a way back into the game at 4-2, Fermín López hit a powerful shot that Pacho blocked, ESPN’s live commentary noted. Colombian outlet Futbolred also highlighted a first-half block in which Pacho threw himself in front of a Fermín shot and took the Barcelona midfielder’s boot in the face. Referee Michael Oliver did not give a foul and VAR did not intervene.
FotMob’s numbers were solid rather than spectacular. Pacho completed 32 of his 34 passes, made 7 defensive actions (2 tackles, 2 blocks, 2 clearances and an interception) and won 4 of his 7 ground duels, but was dribbled past twice. His 6.53 rating was well below the best of his teammates: Doué (8.9) was FotMob’s player of the match, ahead of João Neves (8.7) and Fabián Ruiz (8.6). ESPN put the expected goals at 3.8 for PSG and 2.2 for Barcelona.
What fans said
In Ecuador, reaction on X was glowing. Ecuadorian account MROFF wrote that PSG beat Barça “with a heroic performance by Willian Pacho” in “a match to frame”, and Ecuadorian accounts such as Última Hora Ecuador shared clips of his first-half block, saying it stopped Barcelona from equalizing. Outside Ecuador, some fans pointed to PSG’s defence as the difference between the teams, with one Brazilian account writing that Barça “will never win the Champions League” with their back line while PSG have Hakimi, Marquinhos and Pacho.
Not everyone saw the first-half block as heroic. Spanish-language refereeing accounts debated whether Fermín’s high boot was dangerous play, or whether Pacho, by going in with his head below waist height, had put himself at risk, which under the laws would have meant an indirect free kick for Barcelona.
Elsewhere in the Champions League
Justin Lerma was not in Borussia Dortmund’s squad for their 2-1 win at Sabah in Baku earlier on Tuesday, according to FotMob’s lineups. FotMob lists him with a muscle injury. Serhou Guirassy scored both of Dortmund’s goals.
After sitting out Saturday’s win at Strasbourg as an unused substitute, Pacho came through the full 90 minutes. PSG host Lyon in Ligue 1 on Sunday. On Wednesday, Joel Ordóñez (Club Brugge), Jhoanner Chávez (Lens) and Piero Hincapié (Arsenal) have Champions League games, although all three are listed with injuries. Every game is on our Schedule page, and the Players Tracker has every La Tri player’s latest rating.
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