Paris St. Germain beat Real Sociedad 2-0 at Parc des Princes in the first leg of their last 16 tie thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola.
PSG, who have never won the Champions League, were far from their best in the first half and Real Sociedad’s Mikel Merino hit the bar just before half-time.
Mbappe then broke the deadlock in the 58th minute to put the home side ahead. His goal made him the first player to score in 10 straight home games in the Champions League. PSG took control of the game and in the 70th minute, Barcola extended their lead as he nudged the ball through the legs of the goalkeeper Álex Remiro.
Real Sociedad will believe they can turn it around in the second leg in Spain on 5 March but will have to offer a much more attacking threat than in Paris.
Mbappe passes Neymar amid Real Madrid links
PSG have won nine Ligue 1 titles since Qatar Sports Investments took over in 2011 but, with European success eluding the club, they have also appointed seven managers in that time – four of those in the past four years.
And now with Mbappe’s contract running out at the end of June there has been much speculation about his future, but to his credit the 2018 World Cup winner with France has delivered goals all season. Mbappe has been directly involved in 38 in 30 appearances for his club this season – 31 goals, seven assists – the most of any player in Europe’s big five leagues.
In addition, he has now scored 44 times in 68 Champions League appearances for Monaco and PSG eclipsing Neymar’s goal scoring exploits in the competition.
In January Mbappe, who has been linked with Real Madrid, said he had not made a decision about his future and it remains to be seen where he will be playing his football next season.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
