Paris Saint-Germain will take a narrow lead into the Champions League Round of 16 second leg after edging Valencia 2-1 at the Mestalla tonight.

The French giants were in cruise control at half-time with a two-goal lead but things unravelled late in the contest when Los Che replied in the final minute of regular time and Zlatan Ibrahimovic was shown a straight red card in injury time.

Ezequiel Lavezzi allowed PSG to go ahead inside ten minutes when he played a neat one-two with Javier Pastore before firing past Valencia keeper Vicente Guaita.

That lead was doubled on foreign soil two minutes from the break when the impressive Lucas Moura jigged past a couple of Valencia defenders on the byline before cutting back for Pastore to finish through the legs of a despairing Guaita.

It seemed as though the Parisians would be heading towards a comfortable two-goal victory until Adil Rami pulled one back for the Spaniards when he guided home Alberto Costa's chipped ball into the box.

There was further late drama for PSG as star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic saw red for a studs-up challenge on Andres Guardado which will see him miss the return leg at Parc des Princes on March 6.

2012/13 UEFA Champions League - Round of 16

Valencia (SPN): 1 (Adil Rami 90') Paris Saint-Germain (FRA): 2 (Ezequiel Lavezzi 10', Javier Pastore 43')

Estadio Mestalla, Valencia - 36,000

Yellow cards:VAL - Joao Pereira 32' PSG - Marco Verratti 32'

Red card:PSG - Zlatan Ibrahimovic 90+2'