Barcelona victory to ignite misfiring PSG

Zlatan wasn't even involved on Tuesday night

PSG's victory over Barcelona on Tuesday night was one of the best games the Champions League has seen in a long time, will this get PSG's season going?

Paris Saint-Germain boss Laurent Blanc must surely have been as surprised as anyone when his side defeated Barcelona on Tuesday night.

The French champions have endured a stuttering start domestically and could only manage a draw at Ajax in their Champions League opener.

After sweeping all before them last season, their defence of the Ligue 1 crown has not started well.

Just three wins from eight games so far mean Blanc's team are in fourth spot, five points adrift of pacesetters Marseille.

The coach believes the Parc des Princes victory over Barcelona can ignite the fire in his men once more.

"We needed a match like this one to rediscover the values which contributed to our successes last season," Blanc said in the aftermath.

Summer signing from Chelsea David Luiz opened the scoring after ten minutes only for Lionel Messi to level matters almost instantly.

Further goals either side of half time from Marco Verratti and Blaise Matuidi stunned the Catalans - who had not conceded a single goal in their seven games this season before they arrived in the French capital.

A clever finish from Neymar reduced the arrears but PSG held on for a priceless win that moves them top of Group F.

All the more satisfying for Blanc and company is that the victory came without two of their key performers in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva.

After winning 27 of their 38 Ligue 1 games last season, few would have predicted such a poor start from PSG this time around.

A run of stalemates has been their undoing, four of their five domestic outings in September finishing 1-1.

Swedish star Ibrahimovic had been in decent early season form, notching a hat-trick in the 5-0 romp over St Etienne at the end of August, the highlight of PSG's season prior to defeating Barcelona.

Ibrahimovic revealed he had been playing through the pain barrier before missing out on the recent league games against Caen and Toulouse.

The weekend draw at Toulouse was the latest in a frustrating run of domestic performances that saw PSG take just six points from four games in the month of September.

While they remain unbeaten, Blanc has been mystified at their failure to put opposition away as well a tendency for sloppy defending.

That was their undoing on Saturday when Toulouse striker Ben Yedder stole the ball from Serge Aurier to put the hosts in front midway through the first half.

PSG equalised thanks to 21-year-old striker Jean-Christophe Bahebeck's first Ligue 1 goal before the half time interval but they were left frustrated and unable to add to that tally in the second period.

A side that averaged well over two goals per game domestically last season, PSG have managed one or less in four of their eight games to date.

All that may now be forgotten in the afterglow of this famous victory against Barcelona and goalscorer Luiz admitted the players were keen to answer the critics that have been quick to jump on their backs.

One downside to the victory is that it has once more opened the door to the debate over whether or not PSG are in fact a better team when their talisman Ibrahimovic is not in the side.

Without him against Barcelona there was work rate, variation and balance to the team effort.

In particular striker Javier Pastore seemed to find a new lease of life, roaming at will against Barcelona without the constraints of the big Swede to shackle him.

PSG and Blanc will be hoping that, with or without Ibrahimovic, Tuesday night was the moment that helps kick-start their season.