India, Oct. 21 -- Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona delivered a Champions League classic worthy of a final on Wednesday (IST). The 4-2 scoreline would suggest complete dominance by PSG, but there was more to it.

Barcelona are finally beginning to rediscover themselves in Europe after the Messi era, but injuries and forced changes exposed their shortcomings in Paris. The fight was there, but PSG's depth and cohesion, attributes that have underpinned their recent Champions League triumphs, proved decisive. The French side's ambition for a third straight title now looks more credible than ever.

The game got off to a flying start with PSG pressing Barcelona aggressively from the start and playing at a very high tempo throughout, a character...