Having fallen into a difficult draw for the 2025/2026 Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain perfectly holds its status as title holder. The Ile-de-France club crushed Atalanta (4-0), before dominating FC Barcelona (2-1) despite many absentees. This Tuesday, the Ile-de-France residents returned to battle with a hell of a duel against the German club Bayer Leverkusen. The Werkself remained on its side with draws against Copenhagen (2-2) and PSV Eindhoven (1-1). For this meeting, Luis Enrique relied on a 4-3-3 with Lucas Chevalier in goal behind Achraf Hakimi, Illia Zabarnyi, Willian Pacho and Nuno Mendes. Vitinha was placed on sentry duty alongside Warren Zaire-Emery and Désiré Doué. Up front, Senny Mayulu was placed up front with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Bradley Barcola on the wings. Opposite, the Germans relied on a 3-4-2-1 with Mark Flekken in goal behind Robert Andrich, Loïc Badé and Edmond Tapsoba with Arthur and Alex Grimaldo as pistons. Equi Fernandez and Aleix Garcia made up the double pivot. In front, Christian Kofane was supported by Claudio Echeverri and Ernest Poku.
Paris Saint-Germain quickly imposed its tempo in the game and quickly put pressure on the German camp. This led to a corner hit by Nuno Mendes towards the far post. Willian Pacho got the better of Loïc Badé and scored with a header (1-0, 7th). An ideal start for the Ile-de-France residents who were going to ride their momentum and install fear in the minds of their opponents. Mark Flekken was also close to the ball with a hook on Bradley Barcola where the French winger was close to taking advantage (12th). Just behind, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got into a shooting position, but crossed too far to the right (19th). However, on a billiard shot in the Parisian area, Illia Zabarnyi was guilty of a hand and conceded a penalty (23rd). A golden opportunity to return to the Bayer Leverkusen side but Alejandro Grimaldo would hit hard on Lucas Chevalier's right post (26th). An alert well printed by the Parisians since the response came immediately with a sublime cross from Bradley Barcola towards the right of the area for Senny Mayulu. The young Parisian was going to hit the right post in his turn (29th).
PSG sticks a set to Bayer and takes the lead
While Bayer Leverkusen came to their senses, Robert Andrich was going to sabotage his team by being sent off for an elbow in the face of Désiré Doué (33rd). With a numerical superiority, Paris Saint-Germain would not benefit for long and would also find themselves down to ten a few minutes later. Hooking Christian Kofane in his area, Illia Zabarnyi was guilty again and received the red toast while conceding a penalty (37th). This time, Aleix Garcia did not miss and equalized on the right of the goal (1-1, 38th). A goal which had the merit of waking up Paris Saint-Germain who responded immediately. Thus, Désiré Doué was found on the left by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and would finish with a left shot into the side net (2-1, 41st). A passer, the Georgian became a scorer a few seconds later following a good serve from Senny Mayulu. Blocked in his attempt, he followed and struck again, scoring with the help of the two uprights (3-1, 44th). Better still, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia found Désiré Doué whose curled ball landed on the right of the goal (4-1, 45th +3).
Knocking out their opponent just before the break, Paris Saint-Germain seemed to have done the hard part. In the second half, Paris Saint-Germain came back with just as much edge. In the middle of the field, Vitinha performed a real solo act before launching Nuno Mendes deep into the center. The Portuguese side was going to adjust the goalkeeper to give his team even more peace of mind (5-1, 50th). But the Germans had not yet completely sunk with this heavy axial strike 25 meters from the cages of Aleix Garcia lodging in the right corner (5-2, 54th). A small glimmer of hope for the Germans? It was quickly extinguished after Ousmane Dembélé entered the field. Replacing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the hour mark, the 2025 Ballon d'Or was served by Bradley Barcola and shook the opposing goal with his victorious strike (6-2, 66th). In management thereafter, Paris Saint-Germain drove the point home in the final seconds thanks to Vitinha (90th). The Ile-de-France club scored a big 7-2 victory and took the lead in the league phase of the Champions League ahead of Inter Milan and Arsenal.
