It’s an understatement to say that Luis Enrique did not appreciate his men’s performance during the first half against Real Sociedad on Wednesday.
PSG took a big step towards qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League. During the first leg played at the Parc des Princes, the French champions won 2-0 thanks to Kylian Mbappé and Bradley Barcola. Enough to approach the return match played in San Sebastian with a certain confidence. At least if we don’t focus on the Parisians’ performance in the first half.
Despite a very big chance from Kylian Mbappé in the first minutes, Luis Enrique’s men actually suffered, struggling to get rid of the very high pressing of the Basques and multiplying technical errors. Real Sociedad certainly did not multiply the chances but found the bar on a long shot from Mikel Merino and had control of the game, managing to keep the Parisians far from their goal.
“He was very angry”
“We had a lot of difficulties in the first half. It’s a team that has a lot of commitment and mobility, we knew it was going to be hard”, Marquinhos easily recognized at the microphone of Canal+ at the end of the meeting. And according to the Parisian captain, Luis Enrique did not like what he saw and made it known to his players in a virulent manner. “We spoke at half-time, the coach pulled our ears. Afterwards, it was better. He was very angry,” he whispered, refusing to say more: “He always tells us the truth. He motivated us a lot to have personality.”
Author of the second Parisian goal, Bradley Barcola confirmed Luis Enrique’s rant on RMC’s microphone. “We started off rather badly, we were moved around a lot in the first half. The coach woke us up at half-time. It’s a sigh of relief, we know that we leave with a good advantage for the return. We still have to do the work on the way back”he explained.
