Vitinha fired back at Lamine Yamal and Pedri following Paris Saint-Germain’s last-gasp win against Barcelona.
Yamal and Pedri both started in Barca’s loss at the Estadi Olympic Lluis Companys against the 2025 Champions League winners.
Ferran Torres opened the scoring on 19 minutes with the assist provided by on-loan Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford before the away side hit back thanks to Senny Mayulu.
And with the game seemingly heading towards a draw, Achraf Hakimi’s pinpoint pass found Goncalo Ramos, who made no mistake from close range to hand the visitors a 2-1 win.
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The victory leaves PSG third in the 36-team group phase, while Barca are 16th after two matches.
Ahead of last night’s game, Yamal posted a graphic to Instagram with the caption: “Pressure? I’m back, and the mission is back too.”
Meanwhile, Pedri explained how “PSG is a team” that are “one of the best teams in the world” before stating that he still considered Barca to be “the best” despite the Ligue 1 side’s historic treble-winning 2024/25 campaign.
The midfielder also looked back on Barca’s 2023/24 quarter-final defeat to the French side, referencing how “football always has revenge”.
Both sides are among the favourites to win this season’s tournament alongside Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Real Madrid.
And despite it still being the early stages of Europe’s premier club competition, PSG stars Vitinha and Ramos were quick to fire back at Pedri and Yamal.
Ramos explained how “if you’re the best, you have to show it on the pitch” rather than “talk” as well as reiterating that the Parisiens are European champions.
Midfielder Vitinha was also pressed on the topic during an interview with French outlet RMC Sport after the match, and stressed that PSG “don’t give a damn” about pre-match statements or posts from the opposition.
“It happens sometimes,” said the Portuguese. “There are often statements made before matches, and it can happen. We don't give a damn. We don't care, we just want to play the match, we won, and we're happy about that.”
Luis Enrique’s side were without 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, as well as key men Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia against Barca, but still managed to get over the line, something Vitinha claimed was a “great statement”.
PSG return to Ligue 1 action away at Lille on Sunday, with Barca facing a trip to Sevilla earlier that day.
Topics: Lamine Yamal, Pedri, PSG, Barcelona, Champions League, Football
Luke Davies