Exclusive: Emmanuel Petit believes Real Sociedad can exploit PSG weakness in Champions League showdown

The Champions League returns this week with the start of the last 16 ties. Real Madrid picked up victory in the first leg of theirs against RB Leipzig on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, it will be the turn of Real Sociedad, who arguably have the most difficult task of all the La Liga sides left in the competition.

La Real, despite having won their group ahead of the likes of Inter Milan, were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain, who are still trying to achieve their first Champions League success at the umpteenth time of asking. They do have as good a chance as any right now, with Luis Enrique as head coach, and Kylian Mbappe still at the club – albeit maybe not for much longer.

PSG will go into the tie as favourites, a title that former Arsenal, Barcelona and France midfielder Emmanuel Petit believes is merited because of La Real’s struggles over the last few weeks. Petit spoke exclusively to Football España to provide his take on one of the ties of the round in the Champions League.

“Two months has gone since (the group stages ended). Real Sociedad were very impressive then, now it’s completely different. They are struggling, they don’t score goals and they have so many top players injured. We all know their quality – they play with a unity, they fight for every ball, they put pressure on their opponents all the time. But they are quite limited in terms of quality and skill, especially in front of goal.”

“With the injuries, they don’t have a big squad – I’m not impressed by the players they’ve had on the bench there recently. For me, they were probably the best team that Paris Saint-Germain could meet, following their performance in the group stages. PSG are like Jekyll and Hyde, but for me – I won’t disrespect Real Sociedad – it