Text size

Paris Saint-Germain breathed life into its flagging Champions League campaign as a 3-0 away win at Salzburg in Austria on Tuesday boosted the French club’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages.

Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and Desire Doue scored for PSG in Austria as Luis Enrique’s team won the Champions League for the first time this season since beating Girona 1-0 on the opening day of play in September.

With three goals, they also doubled their previous goalscoring rate in the competition, as PSG recovered from defeats against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich in their last two games.

The victory catapults the Ligue 1 leaders into 24th place in the 36-team overall standings, the final qualifying spot for the knockout phase.

They have seven points, the same number as Feyenoord, which trails PSG on goal difference but will have a chance to climb above the Qatari club against Sparta Prague on Wednesday.

Portuguese striker Ramos, who has just returned from more than three months out due to injury, gave Paris the lead after half an hour when he stretched out a leg to convert Achraf Hakimi’s knockdown over the line.

The second goal came with just under 20 minutes left when Doue deflected the ball from the baseline for Mendes to shoot it in.

This removed any real doubts about the result and substitute Doue secured the victory late on after great work from Hakimi.

PSG still have a lot of work to do and are looking forward to a big game at home against Manchester City in January before heading to Stuttgart in their final game.

Salzburg has now lost five of its six games and is on the verge of elimination.

as/no