South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in and his Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) are off to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League.
Lee recorded his first career Champions League assist to help PSG defeat Real Sociedad 2-1 in the second leg of the round of 16 at Anoeta Stadium in San Sebastian, Spain, on Tuesday (local time). PSG won 4-1 on aggregate, and they have made it to their first European quarterfinals since the 2020-2021 season.
Lee came off the bench to begin the second half, with PSG up 1-0 on Kylian Mbappe’s 15th-minute goal. Then 11 minutes after the restart, Lee sent a long pass into open space for Mbappe, who collected the ball, cut inside and struck a low shot into the bottom left corner.
It was Lee’s first assist since rejoining PSG following South Korea’s semifinal exit at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar last month. Lee caused a stir when it was later revealed that he had gotten into a scuffle with captain Son Heung-min over a game of table tennis on the eve of Sou
th Korea’s semifinal loss to Jordan. Lee has since apologized to Son and the rest of his teammates.
Elsewhere in the tournament, Bayern Munich blanked Lazio 3-0 in their second leg of the round of 16 at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, and advanced to the last eight by winning 3-1 on aggregate. But Bayern’s South Korean center back Kim Min-jae did not see action, with Eric Dier starting ahead of Kim.
Kim had not been with Bayern’s “A” team in their final training session Monday. This was the first match Kim missed this season for reasons other than injury or international duty.
The draw for the quarterfinals will be held March 15. The opening legs will be on April 9 or 10, and the return legs will be played on April 16 or 17.
Lee scored his first Champions League goal during the group stage in October last year. For the season, Lee has three goals and three assists in all competitions.
Source: Yonhap News Agency