PSG manager Luis Enrique was livid with his players at halftime. Real Sociedad dominated the first leg of the Champions League last 16 for long spells despite missing key players through injury. With PSG’s home crowd in Paris growing restless with each passing minute, it was imperative to score and seize the advantage. Although Sociedad hadn’t scored in their last four fixtures, Enrique knew the second half was crucial for PSG to strike back. Enrique made no attempts to hide his anger and disappointment. He let it rip in the dressing room.
“He was very angry in the dressing room, and that’s good,” said Marquinhos, the PSG captain. “It’s important for the team. He managed to motivate us to bring the ball out more from the back.”
The pounding that the coach gave during the break did the trick. The responses came from PSG’s most trusted goal-scorer Kylian Mbappe. The France international broke the deadlock in the 58th minute.
The breakthrough came when Marquinhos headed on Ousmane Dembélé’s corner from the right and Mbappé was unmarked at the back post to volley in. A few minutes later, his strike from the edge of the penalty area was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Álex Remiro.
Remiro was beaten again in the 70th when the speedy Barcola broke down the left, skipped past right back Hamari Traore with ease and poked the ball in — prompting coach Enrique to jump off the bench to celebrate.
Mbappe’s goal took the pressure off his teammates and allowed the 21-year-old Barcola — a summer signing from Lyon — more freedom to attack and net his first goal in the Champions League.
“It’s a childhood dream come true,” Barcola said.
Mbappe promises open game in second leg
“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 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 Saturday’s French league game, but he showed no ill effects when he latched onto Dembelé’s pass and forced a save in the sixth minute.
After that chance, however, PSG’s intensity dropped right off.
Even though Sociedad coach Imanol Alguacil was without goal-scoring midfielder Mikel Oyarzabal and left back Kieran Tierney, the intensity and organization of Sociedad’s high pressing pushed PSG back at a subdued Parc des Princes.
André Silva glanced a header wide and captain Mikel Merino struck the crossbar with a superb dipping shot from 25 meters 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,” Mbappé 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.”
Despite huge spending, PSG has been eliminated from the last 16 five times in the past seven seasons.
A quarterfinal place seems within reach, however, heading to San Sebastián for the return leg on March 5.
