PSG 4-2 Barcelona: four different scorers end Barcelona's 11-match winning streak

Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 at the Parc des Princes in the heavyweight fixture of this season's Champions League league phase so far, with four different players on the scoresheet for the home side and a result that brought Barcelona's remarkable 11-match winning run to an end.

Désiré Doué opened the scoring in the 38th minute, finished off a João Neves pass, before Xavi Espart levelled for Barcelona early in the second half, in the 55th minute, set up by Fermín López. Lucas Hernández restored PSG's lead with a header in the 72nd minute, created by Doué, only for Lamine Yamal to pull Barcelona level again seven minutes later with a goal of his own making. PSG settled it in the closing stages: Vitinha struck in the 81st minute without an assist, and Fabián Ruiz added a fourth in the 86th, teed up by Achraf Hakimi, to put the result beyond doubt.

A seesaw game decided by PSG's bench

Three of PSG's four goals came either from or involving a player introduced during the match — Hernández's header was created by a starter in Doué, but Vitinha and Ruiz's late goals arrived once Luis Enrique's side had already brought on Maghnes Akliouche, Warren Zaïre-Emery and Ferran Torres to freshen the attack against a Barcelona side still searching for a way to close the game out at 2-2. Only one caution was shown all night, to Barcelona's João Cancelo in the 17th minute, in what otherwise stayed a game decided by moments in both boxes rather than bookings.

Barcelona's long unbeaten run finally snapped

The headline number here belongs to Barcelona rather than PSG: this was their first defeat in 11 matches across all competitions, a run that had included a 4-1 win away at Galatasaray in the previous Champions League matchday and had carried them to 1st in La Liga on 27 points from nine straight wins, a perfect record with 39 goals scored. That run is why this result carries more weight than a routine league-phase defeat — it is the first time all season that Hansi Flick's side have had to take stock of a loss rather than build on a win. The scoreline also repeats itself for PSG: this is the second matchday running they have won 4-2, having beaten Manchester City by the same score just six days earlier.

PSG's own form says this was no fluke

PSG arrived at this fixture with their own momentum: a 4-2 away win at Manchester City on matchday 2 had followed a 6-1 opening win over Slovan Bratislava, giving them maximum points and a +7 goal difference heading into the Barcelona game, by far their best defensive return of the three results. Domestically they sit 2nd in Ligue 1 on 14 points from seven games, a position built on a mixed run that includes a draw at Lille and a loss to Monaco — results that make this Champions League form, now three wins from three in the league phase with 14 goals scored across the three matches, their most consistent run of the season in any competition.

Match facts

• 38' — Désiré Doué (PSG), assist João Neves
• 55' — Xavi Espart (Barcelona), assist Fermín López
• 72' — Lucas Hernández (PSG), assist Désiré Doué, header
• 79' — Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)
• 81' — Vitinha (PSG)
• 86' — Fabián Ruiz (PSG), assist Achraf Hakimi
• Parc des Princes, Paris — Champions League league phase, matchday 3, Tuesday 20 October 2026

What's next

PSG move to maximum points from three Champions League matches, firmly on course for a top-eight finish that would send them straight into the round of 16 without a knockout play-off in between, while continuing to chase a top-half finish of their own in a Ligue 1 table they currently sit 2nd in. Barcelona, who remain 1st in La Liga and were still 3rd in the Champions League table heading into this round, now have to show they can respond to a first defeat of the season the way they have responded to every challenge before it — with another winning run, starting from their next fixture in either competition.