Wednesday brought a solid win for the Barça U19s in the UEFA Youth League. A couple of weeks back they edged Newcastle away (2-3), and this Wednesday Pol Planas’ youngsters followed it up with another victory, this time on home turf against PSG, and having to come from behind to do it at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

Chtai Telamio had put the French side in front late in the first half, a period that also saw Barça reduced to ten men after Campos was shown a straight red. But after the break, with PSG also going down to ten, goals from Shane Kluivert and Xavi Espart turned things around to secure the points.

Turning it around

It was far from a comfortable first half for Barça. Despite starting brightly and carving out the first chances, the dismissal of Campos for a last-man foul on the edge of the box after 24 minutes left them up against it. The task got even tougher when Telamio chested down a cross and finished from close range to put PSG ahead just before the interval.

But Barça weren’t done. Even a man down, they kept pushing after the restart. And when Wassim Slama saw red for a second booking on 58 minutes, the balance shifted. Ten minutes later, substitute Kluivert bent in a lovely strike from the edge of the area with virtually his first touch. The comeback was completed shortly after, Pedro Rodríguez threading a perfect ball through for Espart to run onto and slot home).

PSG pressed for a leveller in stoppage time, but Barça held on for a second win in as many games. Next up, a trip to Bruges on Wednesday 5 November.

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    MATCH STATS

    BARÇA: 2
    PSG: 1

    Barça: Max Bonfill, Guillem Víctor (Xavi Espart, min 46), Campos, Hafiz Gariba, Pol B., Dani Ávila (Pedro Villar, min 65), Sama Nomoko (Ebrima, min 78), Pedro Rodríguez, Adri Guerrero, Orian (Shane Kluivert, min 65), Oriol Pallàs (Baba Kourouma, min 27). 

    PSG: James, Fanne Drame (Coulibaly, min 71), Diandaga, Lucea, Cordier, Ebo El Nay (Domingos, min 83), Diyinu Nzinga, Khafi (Landry N’Dri, min 56), Nsoki (Adam Ayari, min 83), Slama, Chtai Telamio (Mounguengue, min 56).

    Goals: 0-1, Chtai Telamio (min 43). 1-1, Shane Kluivert (min 67). 2-1, Xavi Espart (min 73). 

    Referee: Antoni Bandić. Yellows for Guillem Víctor & Sama Nomoko (FCB) and Yanis Khafi, Thomas Cordier & Fanne Drame (PSG). Direct red card for Campos (FCB) and double yellow for Wassim Slama (PSG).

    Força Barça