The French champions travelled to Spain shorn of several key players, with Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Marquinhos, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Joao Neves all sidelined.<\/p>\n
“I want to feel our DNA as a team and as a club,\u201d coach Luis Enrique said. \u201cWhatever the players, whatever the problems, we are here, like the supporters.”<\/p>\n
After an early Barca opener from Ferran Torres, PSG\u2019s response came from unlikely sources, Senny Mayulu a 19-year-old midfielder pressed into service as a centre forward grabbing the equaliser before the break.
\nIbrahim Mbaye, 17 and making his first start in the competition, helped set up the move with sharp link-up with Nuno Mendes.<\/p>\n
Quentin Ndjantou, 18, was introduced for only his second professional appearance and showed enough energy and daring in a late cameo to underline why Luis Enrique trusted him in such a setting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pride is to see so many Titis (young Parisians) in a match like this,\u201d Mayulu said. \u201cWe work hard every day, the coach trusts us, he puts us in the starting 11, and we have to give that back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Portugal striker Goncalo Ramos eventually sealed the victory in the closing stages, extending his knack for scoring goals in decisive moments as a late substitute.
\nMidfielder Vitinha hailed the collective effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an incredible match and I\u2019m proud of this team,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had five regular starters missing and players who don\u2019t often play stepped up and gave a great response.\u201d
\nThe victory not only strengthened PSG\u2019s position in the after two wins in as many games, but also vindicated the club\u2019s restrained approach in the transfer window.
\nWith fewer big-name arrivals than in previous summers, Luis Enrique has leaned heavily on homegrown talent, accelerating the development of Mayulu, Mbaye and Ndjantou.<\/p>\n
–Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12026,"template":"default||default||default||default","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-12025","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.","published_date":null,"news_description":"Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.||Paris St Germain\u2019s 2-1 victory at Barcelona on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of a statement win as the Champions League holders leaned on a blend of academy graduates, fringe players and established names to show their depth.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17838,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/12025\/revisions\/17838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=12025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}