PSG Star Nuno Mendes Earns Strong Comparison to Real Madrid Legend | OneFootball

The moment the Champions League anthem rang out, PSG seemed to switch gears, immediately returning to the dominant form that carried them to last season’s UEFA Champions League title.

Even without Désiré Doué and Ousmane Dembélé for their league phase opener against Atlanta on Wednesday, the Parisians operated like a finely tuned machine. They struck twice in the first half and added two more after the break, cruising to a 4-0 victory.

What stood out was the collective effort: four different players found the back of the net, including a standout finish from Nuno Mendes, ensuring PSG started their Champions League league phase campaign with a statement win.

PSG Standout Nuno Mendes Gets High Praise

Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images for Qatar Airways

French football pundit Walid Acherchour was highly impressed by the PSG full-back’s showing against Atalanta, saying he hasn’t seen a player in this position this dominant since Real Madrid legend Marcelo.

“Nuno Mendes is crazy,” Acherchour said (h/t Le10Sport). “I’ll go even further. In that position, since Marcelo, I haven’t seen anyone capable of going full speed and making pace changes with such silky technical quality.

“This mix of athleticism, physicality, change of pace, and technical skill—meaning Nuno Mendes’ connection with the ball—he creates things out of nothing.”

PSG will now look to turn the page on this Champions League win and will now look to have an eye on Barcelona for the Matchday 2 clash.