Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored yet again in the UEFA Champions League, while emerging winger Bradley Barcola grabbed his first goal in the competition as Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Sociedad 2-0 in the first leg of their round-of-16 encounter.
Mbappe joined PSG in 2017 in a deal worth 180 million euros (US$193 million) and has netted a club record 243 goals since.
Barcola arrived from Olympique Lyonnais in a deal worth 50 million euros, and is starting to impress with his skill and poise.
Photo: AFP
“I’m really happy tonight,” Barcola said. “It’s a childhood dream come true.”
Sociedad dominated the game for long spells despite missing key players through injury until Mbappe’s goal in the 58th minute.
The breakthrough came when Marquinhos headed on Ousmane Dembele’s corner from the right and Mbappe was unmarked at the back post to volley in.
Photo: AFP
“That’s where we lose the control of the game,” Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil said. “We can’t allow that to happen.”
A few minutes later, Mbappe’s strike from the edge of the penalty area was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
Remiro was beaten again in the 70th minute when the speedy Barcola broke down the left, skipped past rightback Hamari Traore with ease and poked the ball in — prompting coach Luis Enrique to jump off the bench to celebrate.
Photo: AFP
Sociedad went scoreless for their fifth straight game in all competitions.
“We managed to score at key moments in the game. We have a good lead,” Mbappe told broadcaster Canal Plus. “The clean sheet is important for us, we’ve been looking for that in the Champions League, although it’s true that they [Sociedad] have not not been scoring much at the moment.”
There was relief, too, that Mbappe lasted the whole game.
Mbappe’s sore left ankle kept him on the bench for PSG’s Ligue 1 game on Saturday last week, but he showed no ill effects when he latched onto Dembele’s pass and forced a save in the sixth minute.
However, PSG’s intensity dropped off after that.
Even though Alguacil was without goal-scoring midfielder Mikel Oyarzabal and leftback Kieran Tierney, the intensity and organization of Sociedad’s high pressing pushed PSG back at a subdued Parc des Princes.
Andre Silva glanced a header wide and captain Mikel Merino struck the crossbar with a superb dipping shot from 25m moments before the break.
“It’s evident that we had trouble getting out of their pressing game in the first half. We should have shown more character to get out of it, as we were eight [players] against six,” Mbappe said. “The return leg will be more open, they will attack more and we will be given more space. If we get the space over 40 meters, I think we will score over there.”
Marquinhos said that Enrique gave the players a stern talking to at the break.
“He was very angry in the dressing room and that’s good,” Marquinhos said. “It’s important for the team. He managed to motivate us to bring the ball out more from the back.”
Mbappe’s goal took the pressure off his teammates and allowed Barcola more freedom to attack.
Despite huge spending, PSG have been eliminated in the last 16 five times in the past seven seasons.
However, a quarter-final place seems within reach heading to San Sebastian for the return leg on March 5.
In Rome, Bayern Munich could not find the goal, as none of their 16 shots were on target in their 1-0 loss against SS Lazio.
Lazio captain Ciro Immobile converted a penalty when Bayern were reduced to 10 men midway through the second half after the German club failed to capitalize on a series of chances.
“It’s been a tough week,” Bayern striker Harry Kane said. “We started well and had some clear chances. I had one, Jamal [Musiala] had one, Josh [Kimmich] had one from the edge of the box. In these games, those are big moments which we weren’t able to take.”
Kane was set up by Thomas Muller directly in front of the goal after seven minutes, but missed high with a half-volley.
“They’re the ones you want and I just leaned back,” Kane said. “That’s football and part of being a striker: You’re going to miss them now and again. The main thing for me and the team is to focus on the next challenge. We’re in a difficult spell, there’s no hiding that. We’re not out of it and we’ll never give up. One spark can change a lot and we need to try to find that.”
Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano was sent off for a foul on Gustav Isaksen and Immobile sent goalkeeper Manuel Neuer the wrong way with the ensuing spot-kick.
The Italy forward has now scored Lazio’s past four goals in the competition, having reached the 200-goal mark in Serie A last weekend.
“Playing matches like this gives you so many emotions and sharing it with these fans is what we dream of as children,” Immobile said.
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