SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain: Kylian Mbappe led Paris Saint-Germain back to the Champions League quarterfinals on Tuesday, scoring goals in a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad that kept the French club’s hopes of winning the European title alive.
PSG completed a 4-1 aggregate, and Mbappe also scored one of the goals in a 2-0 win in the first leg in Paris three weeks ago.
Despite spending a lot of time trying to win the Champions League for the first time, PSG had been eliminated from the round of 16 five times in the last seven seasons, including the last two. He reached the semifinals in 2021 and is a finalist. in 2020.
Mbappe made the difference on Tuesday, opening the scoring with a fine goal in the 15th minute after some clever moves inside the box to get closer to the touchline and unleash a strong right-footed shot into the corner.
The shot shattered the net near the far post, prompting a brief stoppage of play to make amends.
Mbappe’s second goal came in the 56th minute with a run that went just wide of the halfway line. He ran into the open box to receive a long pass from Lee Kang-in and found the net from inside the box.
At 25 years and 76 days, Mbappé is the second-youngest player to score forty-five goals in the Champions League, from the organizational level to the final. Lionel Messi achieved that mark at 24 years and 257 days. Mbappe has 46 goals.
Mbappé had scored in his last two games for PSG, but he had scored 8 goals in his last 8 games for the club. He had been substituted in the last two games played until the final whistle on Tuesday.
PSG had won 10 of their last thirteen games in all competitions, but were coming off back-to-back draws against Rennes and Monaco in the French league. Mikel Merino scored Sociedad’s goal in the 89th minute.
In Wednesday’s round of 16 match, Bayern Munich completed a 3-1 aggregate win after beating Lazio 3-0 at home.
For the first time, Sociedad were looking to get past the knockout stages of the Champions League. The Basque club had not participated in Europe’s biggest club tournament since 2013-14. His European crusade came here in 1982-83, when he reached the semi-finals of the European Cup.
Society had a strong season and won their Champions League organization for the first time, but has recently gone through a crisis.
They have lost six of their last seven games in all competitions and have won just one in their last matches.
The Spanish club had dominated PSG for most of the first leg before conceding two goals in the second half. Sociedad had a goal disallowed to Ander Barrenetxea for offside in the 63rd minute.
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