U21s beaten in Barcelona
Youth football•
The Paris Saint-Germain U21 side suffered a 2-1 loss away to Barcelona on Matchday 2 of the UEFA Youth League.
James, Diandaga, Lucea, Fanne Dramé, Cordier, Khafi, Diyinu Nzinga, Abo El Ney, Nsoki, Slama, Chtai Telamio.
After a good win over Atalanta at Campus PSG in the opening round of the UEFA Youth League, the young Parisians travelled to Barcelona looking to make it two wins out of two.
At the Johan Cruyff Stadium, Les Parisiens tried to weather the early storm against a Barcelona side dominating possession. Les Rouge et Bleu sat back, exploding forward on the counterattack at every chance, to the point where Alex Campos was sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity when Slama raced clear and the home side was reduced to ten men in the 24th minute.
The side from the French capital took control of proceedings and duly opened the scoring through Chtai Telamio, set up by Fanne Dramé, just before the break (0-1, 43'). However, despite being ahead on the scoreboard and a player up, Les Titis struggled in the second period as Barcelona refused to back down.
Just before the hour-mark, Slama was sent off after receiving a second yellow card (58'), and Barça took full advantage less than ten minutes later as Shane Kluivert curled home a great shot into the top corner to equalise (1-1, 67').
The Blaugrana then netted the eventual winner when Xavi Espart raced away one-on-one with James and made no mistake (2-1, 73). Paris searched in vain for an equaliser of their own but despite a strong finish, there was no change to the final score.
Next up for the young Paris squad is Round 2 of the Challenge Espoirs at home to Stade Rennais on Saturday 11 October at 15:30!