mbappé

PARIS — Paris Saint-Germain finally showed it can shine in the Champions League without former star Kylian Mbappé, coming back from 2-0 down in the second half to beat Manchester City 4-2 on Wednesday. The crucial victory took PSG out of the elimination zone in the new format of the competition, with a general table, and left City in that section with one game to play. PSG’s redesigned attack finally came together, using four different goal scorers instead of relying too much on just one to make a difference. PSG winger Bradley Barcola scored one goal and assisted another for his France teammate Ousmane Dembélé. Midfielder Joao Neves headed in to score the third before striker Gonçalo Ramos added the fourth in stoppage time. The French team has struggled to score goals in the competition since Mbappé left for Real Madrid before this campaign. He had scored just six in as many games before City’s visit and had been held goalless in defeats to Arsenal and Bayern Munich. PSG coach Luis Enrique said before facing City that the solution up front would come from more teamwork rather than hoping another player can emulate Mbappé, who scored 44 goals last season and helped PSG reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. City coach Pep Guardiola acknowledged that his team was outmatched. “We have to accept it. In the transitions we couldn’t face them, they were faster,” he said. “I give credit to PSG. When a team is better, I have no problem accepting it. They all played really well. “He is not a specific player.” Mbappé’s move to Madrid has forced Luis Enrique to improvise with his lineups all season. This time, 19-year-old winger Désiré Doué played as a makeshift forward although centre-forward Ramos was available for this duel where both teams backed by rich states – the United Arab Emirates (City) and Qatar (PSG) – were at risk of not advancing to the direct elimination stage. City led 2-0 after 53 minutes but PSG equalized in the 60th after some inspiring play from Barcola on the left. Barcola beat Savinho before finding Dembélé near the penalty spot. Barcola himself, 22, equalized by hitting the left post after Doué’s shot bounced off the crossbar. The diminutive Neves leaned in to head in a free kick from the right in the 78th. Dembélé also hit the crossbar with 20 minutes remaining and PSG had two more goals disallowed for offside. PSG players ran to celebrate with their fans as the final whistle blew, and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi clenched a fist. Maybe losing Mbappé won’t be so bad after all. “We are a young team but a team with character,” Al-Khelaifi told Canal Plus. “Many players doubted our team, but I always trusted them.” Al-Khelaifi praised the impact of Luis Enrique. “I think we have the best coach in the world,” he said. “We are playing with character, identity, DNA.”