On Wednesday night, Paris Saint-Germain clinched a 2-0 victory against Real Sociedad at the Parc des Princes in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 encounter.
After a scoreless first half, Kylian Mbappé broke the 0-0 deadlock in the second half off a corner kick. Bradley Barcola then added the second goal as the Parisians take a two-goal advantage into the second leg on March 5.
Mbappé spoke postgame with CANAL PLUS where he shared his thoughts on the first 90 minutes of the matchup with the Spanish club.
“It’s clear that in the first half we had difficulty getting out of the pressure,” Mbappé said (h/t Culture PSG). “We could have added a little more personality because we had a numerical superiority in our camp, 8 against 6 against the pressing. I think we could have done a little better, but that’s part of learning for this team.
“Fortunately, we didn’t pay much for it. In the second half, we came back with a lot of conviction and quality on what we wanted to do in the build-up. We knew we were going to have space and we managed to score at key moments in the match. We are happy to emerge from this first stage with a significant advantage, even if there is still a lot of work to do.”
PSG has three matches lined up before their second leg, facing FC Nantes on February 17, Stade Rennais on February 25, and Monaco on March 1. Stade Rennais has shown strong form recently, and Monaco ranks among the top teams in Ligue 1 this season. These challenging fixtures will provide valuable preparation for Luis Enrique and his squad.
Real Sociedad has four matches preceding their second-leg clash with Paris Saint-Germain. They will take on Mallorca on February 18, Villarreal on February 23, participate in the Copa del Rey second leg on February 27, and confront Sevilla on March 2.
Bye bye PSG..