Inma Lidón

Updated Wednesday, February 14, 2024-23:12

Kylian Mbappé

puffed and stretched

before leaving to warm up, ready to get out of the lethargy that

Luis Enrique

imposed on him just when the stands of the Parc des Princes, who unleash a roar when he grabs the ball, asked him to show his enormous football in this test Champions that he chokes on every year. Just in case it's the last service. Mbappé, transmuted into 9 by the Asturian coach, knows that his people are always waiting for him, as was known in the magnifying glass of all of Spain, the txuri-urdin, the madridista and the rest carried away by curiosity. He did not disappoint. He appeared to wake

Real Sociedad

from sleep, show that they were playing in their garden and open the scoring just when PSG needed it most. He stretched a team that, with the inertia of the scoreboard, is a steamroller. [

Narration and statistics: 2-0

]

Real was not afraid. Why, the result can be the same trembling as facing life with its usual audacity. Of course, they had to make an effort to hold on to the French trident that completes a devilish

Dembélé

and the young

Barcola

, but

André Silva

dared in the first minute to scare them. High pressure to recover and test Donnarumma. Alguacil's plan was about to fall after five minutes if

Remiro

had not saved Mbappé's shot. Zubimendi's first loss allowed PSG to activate his strength: biting and launching the Parisian striker and the

Mosquito

like bullets .

A round-trip match was in the offing that would not allow any respite, but Real managed to put it away. He scared again with a header at

Mikel Merino

's far post from a Brais free kick and soon found the crack through which to break Luis Enrique's team.

Take Kubo had the kryptonite

. He broke Lucas Beraldo with great ease and, if in the first he tried a shot close to the post, in the second he put a sweet cross to Silva that the Portuguese headed into the side of the net. It was not going to be easy to break the streak of

384 minutes without scoring

, but at least PSG was not comfortable.

He couldn't run because they didn't give him even a second of advantage. Javi Galán held his own against Dembélé and

Barrenetxea

, with little spark in attack, at least he kept Hakimi under surveillance.

Le Normand

, with help, lived dependent on Mbappé, with less ball than he dreamed of and Barcola couldn't handle

Traoré

either , except when he headed alone a Hakimi cross on the edge of the crescent of the area. The French were approaching, but with strange sensations.

A mistake that paid dearly

The anxiety was felt by Kubo, who faced it again and again, forcing corners and crosses until

Mikel Merino caught one and hit the crossbar with his left foot shot on the edge of half-time

. The duel was still open, they were on first name terms and Real felt very alive. So much so that the second half started with the same boldness until a host of details broke the balance.

With Traoré off the field attended to, PSG took a corner and

Take Kubo forgot to keep an eye on Mbappé at the far post

. A gift for the forward who caught the ball with his inside to beat Remiro. They were minutes of anxiety for the people of San Sebastián and of empowerment for the idol of the Parque de los Príncipes, who looked for the second with a missile from the crescent that the Basque goalkeeper touched so that it crashed into the crossbar.

A gale seemed to break loose that could devastate the San Sebastian team and made it inevitable that the local advantage would increase. Dembélé stole a vertical in his field, vented with Fabián and the Andalusian found Barcola on the run on the left bank

, who got rid of Traoré to beat the Basque goal again

. In just ten minutes, Real had conceded the same goals as in the entire group stage and was facing its first defeat without finding a way to avoid it.