By winning 2-0 in the round of 16 first leg on Wednesday, the capital club not only took an option for qualification, it finally took control of itself on the European scene.
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Scenes of jubilation at the Parc des Princes on the evening of a Champions League knockout match, the Parisian public had not experienced one for a long time. Wednesday February 14, after the victory against Real Sociedad in the round of 16 first leg (2-0), the PSG players celebrated their success almost like a qualification, rushing to commune with the Auteuil stand. “It’s really a sigh of relief.”confided Bradley Barcola on RMC Sport, a few minutes after the first goal of his career in the Champions League.
Before its first major meeting of the season, Paris Saint-Germain remained on six defeats in its last seven outings in the C1 knockout phase. Above all, its impotence against a manageable Bayern Munich a year ago (0 goals in 180 minutes), at the same stage of the competition, gave the impression that this team had never been so far from the level to which it aspires. . On Wednesday, PSG certainly beat one of the least feared opponents in the round of 16, but they managed to be patient and carry out effective self-criticism to recover in the second period.
Luis Enrique enjoys
This had not been the case during his previous complicated evenings in this edition of the Champions League, at home against Newcastle, and during trips to Milan and the north of England. “The coach pulled our ears at half-time. He was very angry”, revealed Captain Marquinhos on Canal+. At a press conference, Luis Enrique pretended not to remember the words he used in the locker room before giving a mischievous smile: “Cooks never give out their recipe.”
After being criticized for being too stubborn in some group stage matches, the Spaniard scored points on Wednesday. His calls for calm in the face of what he describes as an excessive media obsession with the Champions League will perhaps be heard now that his team has a comfortable lead before the trip to San Sebastian. Himself very complimentary of his evening opponent, whose first period was, according to him, the biggest test of his team’s season, Luis Enrique could only be satisfied, even relieved.
Usually hostile towards journalists, Luis Enrique only took one question badly on Wednesday evening – a small feat -, that relating to the choice of starting Lucas Beraldo on the left side. Despite the few errors made by his young defender, the fact that his team finished the match without a goal conceded, nor even the slightest shot on target, proved him right. Ultimately little worried despite the domination of Real Sociedad in the first period, their team showed itself to be patient and sure of their strength.
“We knew we were going to have space and we managed to score at key moments of the match. We are happy, we start with an important advantage”, noted Kylian Mbappé on Canal+ after the meeting. Six months after the start of the Luis Enrique era, this new PSG has officially passed the era of groping. It’s already doing better than last year’s PSG, whose season sort of ended at the beginning of March. In three weeks, Paris will have the luxury of being able to capitalize on this breath of fresh air to finally return to the quarter-finals, which have eluded it since 2021.