UCL: PSG take control of Real Sociedad tie; Lazio deepen Bayern’s woes
Kylian Mbappe scored the opener as Paris Saint-Germain took a big step towards reaching the Champions League quarterfinals with a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
The mediocrity of PSG’s first-half performance at the Parc des Princes may have had their supporters fearing another in a long line of disappointing results down the years in the Champions League knockout stages.
But Mbappe, who is expected to leave the club at the end of the season when his contract expires, broke the deadlock from close range just before the hour mark.
Bradley Barcola’s well-taken goal in the 70th minute then made it 2-0 to give the French champions a comfortable cushion to take to Spain for the return early next month.
There was big pressure on PSG coming into this tie after they had gone out in the last 16 of the Champions League in five of the last seven seasons.
Another early exit from the competition this season would be a monumental setback for the Qatar-owned club, especially as Real Sociedad were appearing in their first Champions League knockout tie in two decades.
They also made the trip to Paris having failed to score a goal while failing to win any of their last four games in all competitions.
In addition to that, they were missing captain and top scorer Mikel Oyarzabal as he recovers from injury.
PSG, who gave a Champions League bow at left-back to 20-year-old Brazilian January signing Lucas Beraldo, were aiming to extend a run of 16 games unbeaten in all competitions stretching back to early November.
It was a 31st goal of the campaign in all competitions, and a fourth in the Champions League, for the France captain who is widely tipped to move to Real Madrid after this season.
La Real could not find a way back into the game as their run without a goal stretched to five matches.
They now have something of a mountain to climb when they entertain PSG in San Sebastian on 5 March, although supporters of the French side will remain wary given the way they have collapsed at this stage of the competition in recent years against Barcelona and Madrid, among others.
Ciro Immobile fired Lazio towards a first Champions League quarter-final in nearly a quarter of a century in Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Bayern Munich which plunged their troubled opponents even deeper into crisis.
Italy forward Immobile slotted home the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 69th minute at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to pile pressure on Bundesliga champions Bayern, who risk having a disastrous season by their own exalted standards.
The spot-kick was won by Gustav Isaksen who was clattered by Dayot Upamecano with a rash tackle which earned the France defender a red card and left Bayern a man down for the final 20 minutes.
Immobile’s strike came days after he netted his 200th Serie A goal and allowed a raucous Lazio home crowd to dream of a first quarter-final in Europe’s top competition in 24 years.
Lazio won the Italian title the last time their reached the quarter-finals in 2000, when they fell to Valencia in the last eight.
And in order to emulate that star-studded team which featured the likes of Juan Sebastian Veron, Marcelo Salas and Sinisa Mihajlovic, Maurizio Sarri’s side still need to hold out in Bavaria next month.
