On Wednesday at the Parc des Princes, Paris Saint-Germain defeated Chelsea 5-2 in the first leg of their 2025-2026 Champions League Round of 16 tie (second leg on March 17). Here are the player ratings given by Le Parisien and L’Équipe to the capital club’s players.
Le Parisien :
Barcola (7.5) – Dembélé (6.5) – Doué (5)
Neves (7.5) – Vitinha (7) – Zaire-Emery (5.5)
Nuno Mendes (5) – Pacho (5.5) – Marquinhos (5) – Hakimi (6.5)
Safonov (5)
L’Equipe :
Luis Enrique – 8
Barcola (8) – Dembélé (7) – Doué (5)
Neves (7) – Vitinha (5) – Zaire-Emery (5)
Nuno Mendes (3) – Pacho (6) – Marquinhos (4) – Hakimi (6)
Safonov (5)
It is difficult to understand the Parisian’s notes.Pacho is clearly being unfairly judged on this match, except in L’Equipe, where it’s clear he was one of the best players on the pitch. Nuno Mendes’ struggles haven’t gone unnoticed, which is good, but again, Le Parisien seems to have gotten carried away. Now, the player ratings accurately reflect the match, along the lines of “it’s positive, but…”.
Doué wasn’t sensational, but his performance shows he still has considerable strengths. Vitinha was good, and then scored an important goal. His performance can’t be reduced to simply stating that he’s not as strong as he was in the last Champions League final. We understand, though, because PSG and its players have created some memorable moments, and in these moments, we see that small things can make all the difference.
