Paris St. Germain is also heading for the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to superstar Kylian Mbappe. The Ligue 1 leaders won the first leg of the round of 16 against Real Sociedad San Sebastian 2-0 (0-0).
Mbappe initiated the success in the 58th minute. Bradley Barcola (70th) increased. This gave PSG a very good starting position for the second leg on March 5th.
There has been excitement about the future of Mbappe (25) for weeks. Apparently a mega move to Real Madrid is imminent in the summer. But first the exceptional striker wants to realize his dream of winning the handle pot with Paris. Since 2017, PSG has failed five times in seven round of 16 appearances; the French only reached the final in 2020, but lost to FC Bayern (0-1).
Eight new people in the starting line-up
PSG coach Luis Enrique rotated to eight positions after the recent 3-1 win against Lille. Among other things, Mbappe returned to PSG’s starting eleven. The striker also had the first chance. However, keeper Alex Remiro reacted brilliantly.
Otherwise, PSG had a hard time. The seventh-placed team in La Liga, which only reached the round of 16 in the premier class for the second time, was compact. San Sebastian had only conceded two goals in the group phase. The guests even had the best chance before the break when Mikel Merino (45th + 1) hit the crossbar.
After the change, PSG became more active. But only a corner made it 1-0. It was Mbappe’s 31st goal in his 30th competitive game of the season
Manchester City already on track
Defending champion Manchester City is also clearly on course for the quarterfinals. The English triple winner led by star team manager Pep Guardiola won the first leg of the round of 16 against the strong Danish champions FC Copenhagen 3-1 (2-1).
It was City’s eleventh win in a row across all competitions. Kevin De Bruyne gave the English team an early lead in the 11th minute of the game. After a mistake by Manchester keeper Ederson, the hosts came back into the game through Magnus Mattsson (34th).
But Bernardo Silva (45th) got City back on track before the half-time whistle. Phil Foden increased the score in stoppage time (90+2). De Bruyne was directly involved in all of the goals.
Strong Danes at home
The English champions traveled to the Danish capital as the high favorite, but were warned against the home team. FCK had City’s local rivals in the Parken Stadium in the group phase Manchester United and also defeated Galatasaray Istanbul. But the “Skyblues” pushed the pace from the start and continued to dominate the game after the change. The second leg will take place on March 6th in Manchester.