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Lucas Hernandez of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) celebrates after scoring the team's second goal in the UEFA Champions League League Phase Matchday 3 against Barcelona in Paris, France, on the 20th (local time). / AP, Yonhap

France's Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) appears unwilling to relinquish its position as the world's strongest football club in the 2026-2027 season as well.

PSG secured a convincing 4-2 victory against FC Barcelona (Spain) in the UEFA Champions League (UCL) League Phase Matchday 3 held at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, on the 20th (local time). After falling behind in the first half upon conceding an opening goal to Lamine Yamal, PSG mounted a fierce comeback in the second half by netting four goals to sink Barcelona. Xavi Espart, Lucas Hernandez, Vitinha, and Fabian Ruiz scored in succession.

With this, PSG stretched its winning streak to seven consecutive official matches, including four straight league wins. It also put the brakes on Barcelona's 11-match winning run across all competitions (nine league wins and two UCL wins). PSG, bidding for a third consecutive UCL title, played a dominant match even against Spain's strongest side Barcelona, signaling that it will not easily yield its throne as the world's top club. On the day, PSG led in total shots 22-18 and boasted overwhelming firepower with 15 shots on target to Barcelona's 5.

Barcelona, which comfortably outpaced second-place Real Madrid to win La Liga last season and has shown signs of dominating the early part of this season, reaffirmed the challenge of having to overcome the wall of PSG on the European stage.

Atletico Madrid (Spain), the club of South Korean national football team key player Lee Kang-in, drew 1-1 against Stuttgart (Germany) in an away match on UCL League Phase Matchday 3 on the same day. Atletico fell behind after conceding an opening goal to Jamie Leweling in the first half, but restored balance in the second half through an equalizer by Julian Alvarez. Facing an uphill battle after Morten Hjulmand was sent off, Atletico had to settle for holding on to the draw.

Lee Kang-in remained on the bench that day, missing his first match since transferring to Atletico. Journalist Pedro Puyana of a Spanish media outlet reported on social media, "Lee Kang-in experienced slight discomfort from a quadriceps contusion and did not force an appearance; as a precautionary measure, he did not even warm up."

FC Porto (Portugal), the club of Hwang In-beom, suffered a 0-1 home defeat to PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands). Hwang came on as a substitute in the 13th minute of the second half and played out the remainder of the match.

                                                                                                            Lee Jang-won