Mbappe invisible as Barca super-subs beat PSG in five-goal thriller ...

Andreas Christensen came off the bench to head in the winning goal as Barcelona won 3-2 away to Paris Saint-Germain in a remarkable first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann ran riot in a sublime performance to guide his Atletico Madrid side to a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund.

Raphinha had earlier scored twice for the Catalans at the Parc des Princes, slotting in the opener late in the first half and then volleying in an equaliser to make it 2-2 just after the hour mark.

In between, PSG had turned the game around as they awoke from a poor first-half display by starting in electrifying fashion after the restart with two goals in six minutes, neither coming from Kylian Mbappe - who was almost invisible with no shots on target in the match.

Ousmane Dembele struck against his old club, and Vitinha briefly put the French giants in front when he scored just over two minutes later, only for Barcelona to recover in stunning fashion to take control of the tie.

Raphinha’s second goal, a brilliant volley in the 62nd minute, was set up by a beautiful through ball from Pedri, just moments after the latter came off the bench.

Christensen’s winner, which came with his first touch after he had been introduced as a substitute on his 28th birthday, ended PSG’s 27-game unbeaten run and gives Barca a lead to defend at home in the return next Tuesday.

Get all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!

“I am very proud. It is a great victory against one of the best teams in the world, but we are only halfway there,” said Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez.

“PSG still have every chance on Tuesday, but we have a one-goal advantage and we will be playing at home.”

That second leg will be played at Montjuic, the Catalan club’s temporary home, rather than the Camp Nou, the scene of Barcelona’s incredible 6-1 win over PSG in 2017 and of a lethal Mbappe hat-trick in a 2021 meeting of the teams.

Andreas Christensen celebrates after scoring his side's third goal. Photo by Miguel MEDINA / AFPSource: AFP

“We could have won this game,” insisted PSG coach Luis Enrique.

“I am not saying the result is unfair but it came down to little details and we will work to ensure that in the return the little details go our way.”

The story of this game ended up partly being about Luis Enrique’s selection decisions – he was missing the banned Achraf Hakimi but also omitted teenage prodigy Warren Zaire-Emery and gave Marco Asensio a surprise start.

The importance of the occasion for PSG, back in the quarter-finals having been eliminated in the last 16 in five of the previous seven seasons, was clear with Ronaldinho – a former star for both clubs – doing a lap of honour ahead of the game and home fans putting on a Star Wars display as the teams came out.

But Paris struggled to live up to it, with Mbappe for once unable to deliver in a big game.

Appearing in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in four years and since the departure of Lionel Messi, Barcelona grew into this game and almost went ahead on 20 minutes.

Home goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma came to try to punch away a corner but Robert Lewandowski got there first, only for his header to be cleared off the line by Nuno Mendes.

Barcelona's Danish defender Andreas Christensen. Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFPSource: AFP

That was the first wobble from Donnarumma, who did not cover himself in glory as Barcelona went ahead in the 37th minute.

The Italian came out to meet a low ball in from the right by Lamine Yamal but only succeeded in helping it into the path of Raphinha, who gratefully fired into an unguarded net for his first ever goal in the competition.

PSG sent on Bradley Barcola at the break for Asensio, with the substitute going to the right wing and Dembele moving across to an inside-left role close to Mbappe.

The tactical change paid off at once, as PSG drew level three minutes after the restart when Ronald Araujo failed to properly clear Mbappe’s cutback from the byline, the ball dropping to Dembele who rifled a shot high into the net while slipping.

It was just his second PSG goal since moving to the French capital from Barcelona last August.

The home side went ahead in the 51st minute, Barcola and Lee Kang-in combining on the right before Fabian Ruiz supplied Vitinha, who controlled and prodded in.

Xavi responded with a double change just past the hour mark, as Pedri and Joao Felix entered and Yamal and Sergi Roberto came off, with Raphinha now on the right.

Pedri’s first contribution saw him float a ball forward for Raphinha, who arrived in the middle to meet it first-time on the volley, his shot beating Donnarumma to make it 2-2.

It was breathless stuff, and Dembele almost scored again, sending a shot off the far post just before Barcelona won it.

Donnarumma stayed rooted to his line as Ilkay Gundogan delivered a corner and Christensen headed in.

Atletico hold on to keep narrow advantage on ‘nervous’ Dortmund

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid earned a 2-1 Champions League quarter-final first leg victory over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday, surviving a late onslaught from the visitors.

Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino’s first half goals gave Diego Simeone’s side a commanding lead but Sebastien Haller pulled one back to give the German side a foothold in the tie ahead of next week’s return in Dortmund.

Atletico star Antoine Griezmann created a career-best six chances in the game - his 94th in the Champions League - and claimed the assist for Atletico’s second goal. His intelligence and vision on the ball was on full display, with the veteran Frenchman somehow seeming to get better with age despite being 33.

Edin Terzig said his side, fifth in the Bundesliga, were “very nervous” in the first half but they improved and hit the woodwork twice in the final stages of a match which saw security measures reinforced after the Islamic State (IS) group made threats against stadiums used for last-eight ties.

Atletico Madrid had flown out of the traps, keen to grasp a golden opportunity to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2017.

“We took a little first step, we wanted to win at home,” De Paul told Movistar.

“Here we are strong, the fans give us a boost, these nights are incredible – you never know if they will be repeated, the truth is I am very happy.

“When you win, I always think it’s positive because if not, you never enjoy anything.”

Despite not forcing an equaliser, Dortmund captain Emre Can said his team were content with the result.

“On such a night, one can also go under … there were phases where they completely overpowered us in the duels,” Can told DAZN.

“So, we’ll take the 2-1 and everything is open for next week.”

Dortmund midfielder Julian Brandt. Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFPSource: AFP

Dortmund could not cope with the Rojiblancos’ high press in the opening stages and De Paul fired the hosts ahead in the fifth minute after Ian Maatsen gave the ball away.

Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel passed the ball to the on-loan Chelsea defender, who panicked under pressure and played a slack pass which De Paul gleefully intercepted before tucking home.

Atletico have not lost any of their home Champions League knockout games during Simeone’s 12 years at the helm and continued to flood forward confidently at the baying Metropolitano.

Kobel clawed away a brilliant backheel flick by former Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel, a key part of Atletico’s backline after his move in 2022.

The only negative note from a fine Atletico first half was a booking Lino earned, ruling him out for the second leg.

A few minutes later the Brazilian doubled his team’s lead after another Dortmund defensive mix-up.

Mats Hummels, on his 500th appearance for Dortmund, badly directed a header into Alvaro Morata’s path and he and Antoine Griezmann combined to feed Lino, who slid a low effort past Kobel.

Terzic brought on Julian Brandt for Felix Nmecha at halftime in search of more attacking spark.

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann. Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFPSource: AFP

Missing sick top goalscorer Donyell Malen the Bundesliga side struggled to find a way past Oblak, who saved from Niclas Fuellkrug early in a far tighter second half.

On-loan Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho began to get move involved for Dortmund, who pulled one back in the 81st minute, although not before Kobel made a stunning save to deny Lino his second.

Nahuel Molina miskicked a clearance and the ball fell to towering striker Haller who drove it beyond Oblak.

Despite the visitors finding a foothold, Atletico held on by the skin of their teeth and Dortmund fell to their first away defeat in four months.

English winger Jamie Bynoe-Gittens’s long-range drive deflected off Cesar Azpilicueta’s head and hit the crossbar, while Brandt nodded off the woodwork in a frantic finale.

Simeone was able to celebrate his 50th Champions League victory as a coach, becoming the ninth man to achieve the feat.

Simeone and Atletico have yet to conquer the Champions League, but this win is a shaky step towards the semi-finals.

Dortmund showed it will not be a walk in the park, however, with their second half display.

“We were very nervous and conceded two easy goals, (then) we managed to correct the situation,” said Terzic.

“I told them to calm down – we didn’t draw but now we have a result that leaves the door open.”