Paris Saint-Germain see off Barcelona in five-goal thriller

Paris Saint-Germain have withstood a late Barcelona onslaught to secure a 3-2 win in an exciting Champions League clash at the Parc des Princes and climb to the top of Group F.

© Getty Images

After a lively start which saw both teams probe forward in search of an early goal, the home side were awarded a free kick after Daniel Alves handled the ball just outside the area.

Lucas's set-piece delivery fell to David Luiz, who proceeded to poke the ball home and put PSG into an early lead.

Barcelona were level within a minute, however, as Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta marauded forward exchanging passes before the Argentine curled the ball into the bottom corner.

Nevertheless, Laurent Blanc's charges were ahead once again as, in the 26th minute of the match, Marco Verratti was able to find space at the far post from a corner and head the ball into the back of the net.

© Getty Images

It would get even better for PSG early in the second half, as Blaise Matuidi was able to side-foot the ball through the legs of the Barca goalkeeper following some great work by Gregory van den Wiel and Lucas.

Just like in the first half, however, Luis Enrique's charges were able to strike back almost immediately, Neymar firing home following Alves's probing ball into the box.

Xavi then broke a footballing record by coming on for Barcelona for the last 20 minutes and making his 143rd appearance in the Champions League, more than other player in history.

The Catalan giants found themselves plugging away in the latter stages of the game, but were unable to find the crucial equalising goal, leaving the Parc des Princes crowd to savour a famous European victory.