The current Barcelona are a curious mix of youthful experience and ageing superstars. At one end of the scale are players such as Robert Lewandowski, 35, and Ilkay Gundogan, 33. At the other, there is Pau Cubarsi, a 17-year-old centre-back of remarkable promise, and the 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal.
A strange team, then, but an increasingly good one. Barcelona came into this match on the back of eight wins in their last 11 matches in all competitions and with a defensive record of just one goal conceded in their last six games.
After surviving an early spell of pressure, with Cubarsi impressing again, they were the better side in the first half. Raphinha twice went close before finally finding the net after 37 minutes, when Yamal’s cross was diverted into his path by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
PSG were largely disappointing, apart from an exciting spell of attacking football after half-time. Three minutes after the break, Dembele rifled an extraordinary shot through the bodies and into the roof of the net. Two minutes after that, Vitinha ran onto Fabian Ruiz’s pass to finish in style.
Luis Enrique, the PSG coach, won the Champions League as Barcelona manager in 2015 and he quipped before this meeting that he better embodies the Catalan club’s famous style of football than Xavi.
In response, Xavi’s supporters might point to the quality of Raphinha’s second of the night. Young midfielder Pedri, off the bench a minute earlier, spun a gorgeous pass over the PSG defence, which Raphinha artfully volleyed into the corner. Pure Barcelona.
