Paris 2-0 Real Sociedad: Mbappé helps hosts take control

Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola scored second-half goals to give Paris a 2-0 advantage over Real Sociedad in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg.

Match in brief: Paris patience pays off

Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola embrace after the latter's opening goalGetty Images

It took Paris time to break through a spirited Real Sociedad, but the home side's quality eventually showed in a pulsating first leg at Parc des Princes.

In a breathless start, André Silva curled narrowly wide for La Real inside 30 seconds, while Álex Remiro was alert to tip away an Mbappé strike minutes later.

That set the tone for what was to come, and it was an evenly-matched first half, Real midfielder Mikel Merino coming closest by hitting the crossbar with a powerful long-range drive just before half-time.

It was Paris who dominated the start of the second period, and they got their reward when Mbappé reacted quickest at the back post to fire high into the net after Marquinhos flicked on a header from a corner.

The French forward was beginning to find his groove, and a thunderous effort was tipped onto the bar by Merino as the hosts piled the pressure on. Barcola duly made that intent count, showing blistering pace to get away before cleverly poking the ball past Remiro.

La Real continued to search for a goal to take back to San Sebastián but to no avail, and they must now look to put together a very special performance at REALE Arena in three weeks' time to turn this tie around.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Kylian Mbappé (Paris)

"Important first goal. Always dangerous with his runs and dribbles. Unstoppable in attacking transitions. Good link-up play with team-mates and the best player on the pitch tonight."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Alex Clementson, Paris reporter

Paris returned after half-time with much more purpose and they soon made their superiority count. Mbappé's early finish had somewhat of a calming influence on his side, but it also served as a sucker punch to the opposition. The midfielders started to win their duels and Barcola's fine second ensured Luis Enrique's side take a healthy lead to San Sebastian. This was an assured performance from the Parc des Princes side and the sign of a youthful side growing in maturity.

Alexandra Jonson, Real Sociedad reporter

There are not a lot of teams of Real Sociedad's size that would come to Parc des Princes and go head-to-head with Paris in the way La Real did, especially in the first half. Despite leaving with a 2-0 defeat that will hurt, they can travel back to San Sebastian with their heads held high. This tie will be extremely difficult to turn around, but it still doesn't feel impossible. Tonight Paris showed they are a level above Real, but Imanol Alguacil's men also demonstrated that they can compete with that. There's still everything to play for in the return leg in March.

Reaction 

Luis Enrique, Paris coach: "My goodness, how we had to suffer. I want to congratulate Real Sociedad, who are a great team and competed amazingly. I had a lot of excitement to go up against a fellow Spaniard in Imanol, and they dominated the first half. I cannot even begin to think about the return leg yet."

Kylian Mbappé, Paris forward: "We're happy with the result. We wanted to win at home, that was the objective. Now we have another game to play. Before, we have three in the league. We are happy now, but the job is not done."

Real Sociedad were unable to take a positive result back to SpainGetty Images

Imanol Alguacil, Real Sociedad coach: "In the second half I think think we could have paid an even bigger price than 2-0. Therefore I'm happy with only having let in two goals. I think if we can play like we did in the first half today at home, then we will have our opportunities. We will be able to stand up, compete and make it really difficult for Paris."

Mikel Merino, Real Sociedad midfielder: "We are optimistic. Two goals is nothing and at home, with our fans pushing as they have done in the last games in the Champions League, I think we have a chance. It's all about being efficient, about scoring goals, which is what we haven't done lately but we know that with our fans we can do it."

Key stats

• This was a first meeting between these two sides in UEFA competition, but Luis Enrique's 11th encounter against Real Sociedad as a coach (W6 D2 L3).
• Paris have lost only one of their last 12 home Champions League matches (W9 D2).
• Paris have only failed to score in two of their last 37 Champions League games at home.
• Mbappé has now scored nine goals in his last ten appearances in the Champions League knockout stage.
• This was only La Real's second defeat in their last nine European away games.
• La Real's two goals conceded was as many as in their six Group D games in the autumn.
• The Basque side have not scored in their last five games in all competitions.

Fantasy star performers

Marquinhos: 11 points
Kylian Mbappé: 9 points
Lucas Beraldo: 8 points
Achraf Hakimi: 8 points

Line-ups

Paris: Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Danilo (Hernández 72), Beraldo; Zaïre-Emery, Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz; Dembélé (Kolo Muani 83), Mbappé, Barcola (Asensio 72)

Real Sociedad: Remiro; Traoré, Le Normand (Pachecho 78), Zubeldia, Galán (Aramburu 88); Merino, Zubimendi, Méndez (Turrientes 78); Kubo, André Silva (Sadiq 78), Barrenetxea (Zakharyan 66)