Barcelona vs PSG: Top Five Best Champions League Matches

The UEFA Champions League is arguably one of the biggest honours to compete for in club football. Many memorable nail biting legendary clutch matches and tense fixtures have been played out in this competition. Only the best of the best  teams in the world get a chance to stake their claim and play here. 

One of the most moth watering fixtures over the years in terms of prestige, quality of football, commercial factors and football heritage in general has been FC Barcelona vs Paris Saint Germain. The Catalans and Paris Saint Germain have had many closely contested battles over the years between them. FC Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain have faced each other 12 times in the UEFA Champions League.

Since FC Barcelona have drawn Paris Saint Germain again in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League 2023-24, let’s take a look at the top five clashes between FC Barcelona and PSG.

5. PSG 4 – 1 FC Barcelona (UCL Round of 16, 2020-21)

The French club got the better of FC Barcelona in the UCL in the 2020-21 season with Kylian Mbappe leading the line for Parisians.

FC Barcelona were not doing well in the 2020-21 season but had an one up over them since PSG’s Neymar Jr and Di Maria were not available in both legs due to injury. Despite this, Mbappe put in one of his best performances ever scoring a hat-trick at Camp Nou. Mbappe’s heroics inspired PSG to hold off FC Barcelona in the second leg as they qualified further in the 2020/2021 UCL campaign.

4. PSG 1-3 FC Barcelona (UCL Quarter-finals first leg, 2014-15)

The 2014-15 season was a season to remember for FC Barcelona as they won the treble. FC Barcelona faced PSG in an away match in the first leg of the quarter-finals.

Neymar Jr scored a goal and Luis Suarez got a brace as FC Barcelona won 3-1 in the first leg of the 2014-15 UCL quarter-finals. Luis Suarez scored one of the best goals of his career as he managed to get better of David Luiz and nutmegged  in a one-on-one clash and then finished the job by ruthlessly smashing the ball into the top corner.

3. FC Barcelona 2-0 PSG (UCL Quarter-finals second leg, 2014-15)

The match was considered done and dusted especially considering the result in the first leg of the quarter-finals. This was one of the first ever matches where PSG got to witness peak Neymar who entertained and played for the crowds by making a fool out of PSG defending while also being effective in his attacking threat. Eventually after being outwitted year after years of Neymar Jr putting in solid performances against PSG, the French club bought him from FC Barcelona as if you cannot beat them, make them join your side.

The Samba legend scored a brace in the second leg of the 2014-15 quarter-finals as FC Barcelona emerged victorious 5-1 on aggregate.

2. PSG 4-0 FC Barcelona (UCL Round of 16 first leg, 2016-17)

The 2016-17 FC Barcelona squad was a really formidable side with the infamous “MSN” trio leading the line in attack. However, Paris Saint Germain were not phased by the attacking firepower of the Spanish giants as they dominated and beat FC Barcelona 4-0. Barcelona had more of the possession but failed to make much use of it as they had only one shot out of ten shots on target rendering their abundance in possession redundant in the grander scheme of things

Angel Di Maria got on the scoresheet with a brace whereas Julian Draxler and Edinson Cavani scored a goal apiece. PSG under the stewardship of  manager Unai Emery were all but set to qualify for the quarter-finals as they humiliated and dominated a strong FC Barcelona side.

1. FC Barcelona 6-1 PSG (UCL Round of 16 second leg, 2016-17)

One of the greatest comeback ever in the history of football which has been extensively covered and is still talked about to this day and is relevant in internet football culture. Widely known as ” La Remontada”, FC Barcelona were way behind after being comprehensively beaten 4-0 after the first leg of the Round of 16 clash vs PSG. 

Despite the less than ideal first-leg performance, FC Barcelona manager Luis Enrique believed in his side and stated "If they can score four goals, we can score six." and that kind of Champions mentality is what set them apart on that day.

The home support was electrifying as Camp Nou was filled and FC Barcelona rattled PSG at the beginning of the match itself. Luis Suarez got an early goal in the third minute and later on Andres Iniesta dribbled past various PSG defenders and forced a mistake which ended up in PSG shooting themselves in the foot and conceding  an own goal. The first half ended 2-0 after which FC Barcelona started to believe that they could pull of something magical, Neymar Jr ran the match as he put in an unforgettable performance. 

The Brazilian won a penalty and scored two late goals out of which one was an astonishing free-kick in the 88th minute. Eventually, FC Barcelona tied 5-5 with PSG because of Cavani’s away goal in the 62nd minute. Neymar Jr eventually completed the fairytale as he assisted Sergi Roberto’s winner in the 95th minute to end the match with a 6-5 win on aggregate.

Cover Credits - Sky Sports