The Royal Society did not come to distribute bouquets of flowers at the Parque de los Príncipes on the Valentine’s Day party. The Basque team was defeated 2-0 this Wednesday in the round of 16 of the Champions League, but fought Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) until the end. With this result the tie remains open for the second leg in Anoeta.

Two polar opposite sports models faced each other: a sports multinational, PSG, and a relatively modest team on the European scene that has always opted for the youth system. After seeing the game, Basque pride and its method remained intact, although courage was not enough.

The match began with some confusion in the Parisian defense, surprised by the aggressive start of the San Sebastian team. Not even a minute had passed and Silva already took a dangerous shot that went slightly wide of the left post. But little by little the locals regained control and in the 6th minute, after a loss of the ball by Zubimendi, Mbappé overwhelmed the defense and launched a low shot that Remiro was able to deflect.

Not at all self-conscious, with serenity and discipline, always brave in duels, the Txuri-Urdin eleven had a phase in which they created a lot of danger on the right wing, especially thanks to Kubo in a couple of plays in which the Japanese showed his short dribbling ability. Two counterattacks by PSG, his main weapon, could have been lethal. In one of them, Dembélé made a cross shot, from a small angle, which crashed into the outside side of the net.

Several subsequent corner kicks, in favor of PSG, were executed without consequences. In the 36th minute, Le Normand stopped Dembélé’s drive with great violence. The referee showed Le Normand a card, even though the player was left battered on the grass due to the impact. Real Sociedad could have gone into the break with a goal advantage thanks to a phenomenal left-footed shot by Merino, about 25 meters away, that crashed into the crossbar.

The second half began with a similar tone to the first, with the Basques on the offensive and PSG, somewhat perplexed, but soon getting into the game and reaching the Basque area. PSG’s first goal was scored by Mbappé, in the 58th minute, on the verge of offside, after a corner kick by Dembélé and a deflected header from Marquinhos. Taking the lead made the Parisians grow, and they repeated their chances.

The second local goal was the work of Barcola when he went in from the left wing, overtaking Traoré, and beating Remiro with his left foot. Given the high intensity of the match, Luis Enrique took out Pereira and brought in Lucas Hernández in defense. Asensio relieved Barcola, and Kolo Muani replaced Dembélé. Aguacil, for his part, also introduced three changes. He retired Le Normand, Silva and Méndez, and Pacheco, Sadiq and Turrientes entered.

The San Sebastián team tried hard to close the gap in the last phase of the match and almost did so in the 89th minute with a shot from Pacheco that went high. There will be a match in Anoeta

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