Paris Saint-Germain beat Valencia 2-1 here Tuesday in the first leg of their confrontation in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
The home side started with plenty of zeal and intensity, but PSG showed within minutes why they are favored to advance to the quarterfinals.
Ezequiel Lavezzi scored for the visitors at the 10-minute mark, taking advantage of Valencia’s disarray after PSG’s Lucas Moura hit the post with a powerful left cross.
From that point on, PSG was content to sit back and wait for opportunities on the counterattack.
Valencia dominated possession, though to little effect, and frustrations on offense were followed by defensive lapses, one of which allowed Javier Pastore to make it 2-0 for the visitors in the 43rd minute.
A pair of substitutions energized Valencia at the start of the second half and the Spanish side carried the play in front of the PSG net, but still without results.
The Parisians relaxed in the final minutes, content to watch the clock run down, only to see Valencia’s Adil Rami cut their lead in half with a tally at the end of regulation.
PSG then lost forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was ejected on a straight red card in the second minute of added time and will miss the second leg, to be played March 6 in France.
Juventus beat Celtic 3-0 at Glasgow in Tuesday’s other Champions League action, leaving the Italian club well placed to advance.
