A 19-year absence: emergency decisions upend the calculations of Paris and Barcelona

Injuries forced Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona into two early substitutions in their Champions League clash, a match that produced some rare figures in the tournament's history.

Ousmane Dembélé limped off in the 19th minute, with Ferran Torres taking his place. Both men have worn the Barcelona shirt.

According to MisterChip, this is only the seventh time in the Champions League era that a player has been replaced by another when both had previously turned out for the opposing club. The last example came on 25 October 2022, when Haaland came off and Akanji came on in Manchester City's meeting with Borussia Dortmund.

Dembélé's exit was the second-fastest substitution of a starting player in PSG's Champions League history. Only Modeste M'Bami, who came off in the sixth minute against Porto on 7 December 2004, went quicker.

Barcelona then suffered another blow in the 27th minute, when Dani Olmo picked up an injury and made way for Fermín López.

That made it the 10th match in the Champions League era in which a starting player from both sides has been substituted inside the first 30 minutes. It was the first such occurrence in 19 years.

It hadn't happened since Beşiktaş faced Marseille on 28 November 2007, when Cissé came off in the 20th minute and Samir Nasri in the 26th.

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