Safonov – Hakimi (c) (Boly, 76'), Zabarnyi, Pacho, L. Hernandez – João Neves, Vitinha (Beraldo, 76'), Fabian – Akliouche (Ferran, 60'), Mayulu (Godts, 60'), D. Doué (Ndjantou, 74').
Two weeks after their dazzling victory over FC Barcelona at the Parc des Princes (4-2), another Franco-Spanish clash awaited the capital club: a showdown against Villarreal, who had beaten Napoli (3-1) between narrow defeats at Dortmund (3-2) and Liverpool (4-3). Determined to secure their ninth consecutive win across all competitions, Paris got off to a flying start. Following a corner delivered from the left, Willian Pacho deflected the ball and João Neves, from six metres out, fired it into the goal (0–1, 9’)! Paris didn’t stop there and, following some good collective pressing, Maghnes Akliouche slipped the ball to Désiré Doué, who found the top corner from the edge of the box (0–2, 12').
In front of nearly 23,000 spectators, the Parisians put on a real masterclass, and Neves came close to scoring a second – but saw his shot blocked by Renato Veiga. However, Senny Mayulu, pouncing on the rebound, powered a volley into the back of the net (0–3, 13'). Having already scored against Barça, Fabian Ruiz once again did his countrymen no favours, converting Akliouche’s assist with a fine half-volley just inside the post (0–4, 17'). Just 16 minutes and two seconds after kick-off, Les Rouge et Bleu had set a new competition record for the quickest-ever four-goal haul! Had Péter Gulacsi not miraculously saved attempts from Doué (36') and Achraf Hakimi (45'+2), the Parisians would have been even further ahead at half-time.
El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine) were determined not to go down, and Sergi Cardona signalled their intent with a fierce shot that flew just wide (48'). The capital club certainly didn’t want to hear any Beatles anthems come the end of the match, and Ruiz – played in by Vitinha – duly beat Veiga before slotting the ball between the Hungarian goalkeeper’s legs with another outside-of-the-boot finish (0–5, 50').
Having come on a few moments earlier, David Boly celebrated his first appearance in the competition by curling a shot past Gulacsi from a Neves cross. The youngster's instant impact completely stunned the 1,300 Parisian fans in the stadium – and made Boly, aged 17 years and 285 days, the club's second-youngest Champions League goalscorer, behind Warren Zaïre-Emery (0–6, 78'). A fitting ending to a memorable evening and a magnificent victory – the club’s biggest-ever away win in the competition – that allowed Les Rouge et Bleu to maintain their perfect record in the competition and retain top spot in the standings. Next up: the Parisians will aim for an 11th consecutive victory as they take on promoted Troyes at the Parc des Princes on Saturday!
Named man of the match, Fabian Ruiz paid tribute to Jesús de Miguel Alameda and the victims of Urda after scoring his first goal
