Real Sociedad 1-2 Paris (agg: 1-4): Kylian Mbappé scores twice to send Paris into quarter-finals

Kylian Mbappé struck twice as Paris beat Real Sociedad 2-1 to wrap up a comfortable aggregate victory and book their place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Match in brief: Mbappé magic the difference

Mbappé was in majestic form in San Sebastián. His first on the night started when he turned his marker to race on to Ousmane Dembélé's through ball and finished with his whipped shot from a tight angle – sandwiched between those actions was a quite brilliant explosion of pace followed by a brief pause to buy space.

Mbappé fires in his first of the nightUEFA via Getty Images

Alejandro Remiro denied Mbappé with his toe just before the half-hour to keep the hosts in the hunt, even if Takefusa Kubo's speculative shot on the stroke of the interval was as close as they came.

Paris were out of sight on 56 minutes. Kang-in Lee was the provider on this occasion, Mbappé again the recipient, the left channel again his area of execution. The visiting skipper cut inside, feigned to bend the ball around Remiro but instead struck low into his near bottom corner. Vintage Mbappé.

La Real rallied, Martin Zubimendi, Beñat Turrientes and Jon Ander Olasagasti all going close before Mikel Merino's late effort, but Mbappé had long since done the damage.

PlayStation® Player of the Match: Kylian Mbappé (Paris)

"Because he is the leader for Paris, attacking and tackling, maintaining the pressure all the time."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Alex Clementson, Paris reporter

It promised to be an uncomfortable evening for Paris, but Luis Enrique's side navigated it with great aplomb. This young team demonstrated growing maturity to nullify a fervent home support with a tactically diligent display. With Mbappé in your side, you're always likely to score goals, and that's exactly what he did. The only blemish will be the hosts' late goal, but Paris made fantastic strides with this performance.

Alexandra Jonson, Real Sociedad reporter

The miracle wasn't to be. Paris, and especially Mbappé, were just too difficult to beat. However, even if La Real were never close to turning the tie on its head, they never gave up, kept on pushing and got a deserved goal of their own. It has been a historic Champions League campaign for Alguacil's charges, one their followers will never forget. With 11 homegrown players used over the piece, they have made Europe take note. A tough night, but Real Sociedad depart with great pride intact.

Reaction 

Kylian Mbappé, Player of the Match: "We're really happy. That was the objective, we wanted to qualify, but we also wanted to win. We had a gameplan that was clear, and we managed to score early. We didn't come under too much pressure, just a little at the end."

Luis Enrique, Paris coach: "Us managers will always try and find a solution, but it's the players that played well. They all played at a very high level. [They were] solid in defence and very efficient going forward. We produced a promising two-legged performance."

Warren Zaïre-Emery, Paris midfielder: "It feels good to have qualified for the quarter-finals. We did what the coach told us to do, and that worked well."

Alex Remiro, Real Sociedad goalkeeper: "Despite all the difficulties we have had, both in today's game and in the first leg, we have not lost face. We could have had a little more luck, but people were not expecting us to finish first in the group and we did. So, you have to look at the positives."

Key stats

• This was only the third time in their past eight round of 16 appearances that Paris have made it through to the last eight.
• Paris are into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2021.
• Aged 25 years 76 days, Mbappé's first made him the second-youngest player ever to score 45 Champions League goals; Lionel Messi is the youngest.
• Mbappé has struck 34 club goals in 34 appearances this season.
• Enrique's team have not lost in 21 matches, since the 2-1 defeat at AC Milan on Matchday 4; their record since is W15 D6.
• Merino's late consolation was Real Sociedad's first Champions League goal since Matchday 4.
• This was La Real's fifth defeat in their last seven games in all competitions; they have won just one of their last ten fixtures.

Luis Enrique celebrates at full timeAFP via Getty Images

Fantasy star performers

Kylian Mbappé: 13 points
Mikel Merino: 7 points
Achraf Hakimi: 6 points
Nuno Mendes: 6 points

Line-ups

Real Sociedad: Remiro; Traoré, Zubeldia (Pacheco 76), Le Normand, Galán; Méndez (Turrientes 61), Zubimendi (Olasagasti 83), Merino; Kubo, Oyarzabal (André Silva 77), Becker (Barrenetxea 61)

Paris: Donnarumma; Hakimi (Soler 83), Beraldo, Hernández, Nuno Mendes (Mukiele 61); Zaïre-Emery, Vitinha, Fabián Ruiz (Ugarte 77); Dembélé (Kolo Muani 82), Mbappé, Barcola (Lee 46)