Paris Saint-Germain beat Barcelona 4-2 at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night, ending the visitors’ perfect start to the season and moving top of the Champions League league phase on nine points from three games.

Desire Doue opened the scoring in the 38th minute, and after Barcelona had twice levelled in the second half, through Xavi Espart in the 55th minute and Lamine Yamal in the 79th, PSG scored twice in five minutes to settle it. Vitinha struck in the 81st minute and Fabian Ruiz added the fourth in the 86th, from Achraf Hakimi’s cross. Lucas Hernandez had headed PSG back in front at 2-1 in the 72nd minute, from a Doue corner. Barcelona stay on six points, and their run of 11 straight wins in all competitions is over.

The press that set the tone

Luis Enrique set PSG up in a 4-3-3, with Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz in midfield and Doue, Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia across the front. Barcelona had more of the ball, but PSG’s front three pressed high and in numbers, and the opening goal came from that pressure, with Joao Neves creating the chance for Doue to finish past Joan Garcia.

That pattern ran through the first half. PSG did not need long spells of possession to create danger, because their press kept winning the ball in areas where one pass put a runner in behind. Kvaratskhelia hit the woodwork early on, and Garcia had to make a series of saves to keep Barcelona in the game before half time. It was a different kind of control from the one PSG showed in their 3-1 win at Strasbourg, where they dominated the ball for long periods.

A young back line tested

Hansi Flick’s Barcelona lined up with Espart at right back, Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin in the centre and Joao Cancelo at left back, with Marc Bernal and Pedri in front of them and Raphinha leading the line. According to Opta figures carried by Sports Mole, Barcelona are the first team in Champions League history to start four teenagers in a game against the reigning champions.

Barcelona also lost Dani Olmo to injury in the first half, with Fermin Lopez replacing him. Espart had the best night of the young defenders on his Champions League debut, bursting forward in the 55th minute, exchanging passes with Lopez and finishing past Matvey Safonov to make it 1-1. But the line as a whole struggled with PSG’s movement in the final half hour. Hernandez rose above Anthony Gordon to head in the second, and both late goals came from PSG midfielders arriving at the edge of the box with nobody tracking them. Barcelona’s defending in those moments was the weak point of a performance that otherwise matched the attacking standards of their 5-2 win at Real Betis earlier this month.

Hernandez, Yamal and the two minutes that decided it

The clearest duel of the night was on Barcelona’s right. Hernandez, playing at left back, kept Yamal quiet for most of the evening and then scored at the other end. When Hernandez was replaced by Warren Zaire-Emery in the 78th minute, Yamal scored within a minute, beating the substitute and finishing from a tight angle to make it 2-2.

PSG’s response showed where their midfield has the edge. Barcelona cleared a cross in the 81st minute, but the ball dropped to Vitinha at the edge of the area and he took a touch before scoring on the half volley. Five minutes later Hakimi crossed low and Ruiz turned it in at the far post. Two of PSG’s three midfielders scored, and the third, Neves, made the opening goal. Barcelona’s triple change on the hour, Rodri, Gavi and Karim Adeyemi for Bernal, Pedri and Raphinha, had shifted the momentum their way, but it didn’t hold once PSG raised the tempo again.

Injuries, depth and what comes next

PSG’s win came at a cost. Dembele went off inside the first 20 minutes with an apparent hamstring problem, replaced by Ferran Torres, and Kvaratskhelia and Marquinhos both went off injured in the 59th minute, with Maghnes Akliouche and Illia Zabarnyi coming on. Luis Enrique still had the stronger bench in the closing stages, and his side extended their unbeaten run in this competition to 13 games. It was the outstanding result of Matchday 3 alongside Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win at Sabah earlier in the evening.

Barcelona host Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday, and PSG are at home to Lyon on the same day. Flick’s first task is the defensive work, because his side have now conceded four in a game they twice came back into.