Mikel Merino, a former midfielder for Newcastle United, is currently showcasing his abilities in the Champions League knockout stages. His Real Sociedad teammate has praised the Spain international, calling him “world-class.”
The match on Wednesday at the Parc des Princes served as a good demonstration of Imanol Alguacil’s team’s advantages and disadvantages. La Real gave the PSG defense multiple opportunities that were clearly produced.
But, in terms of turning those opportunities into goals, they were as useless as a butter knife up against Kylian Mbappe’s acuteness. Real Sociedad’s goalless run has already reached five games in all competitions, a pattern that is probably going to end their Champions League run and seriously hurt their prospects of qualifying for Europe in 2024–2025.
Kieran Tierney, who is now on loan from Arsenal to Real Sociedad, emphasizes that the team has a number of players who are genuinely “world-class,” including Mikel Merino, a former prospect for Newcastle United.
The Scottish international stated to The Guardian, “You have players of the highest caliber, like Brais, Merino, and (Martin) Zubimendi. It’s not like they don’t believe in their own goodness. Simply put, it’s difficult to determine (how excellent these guys are) if all you watch each week is the Premier League. They are top-notch.
It’s notable, though, that Tierney doesn’t consider any of the players to be outstanding to be center forwards. Andre Silva, Carlos Fernandez, and Umar Sadiq frequently fall short of seizing the chances created by Takefusa Kubo, Merino, and Brais Mendez.
Merino, who was notoriously only at St. James’ Park for a single season, made 25 appearances for Rafael Benitez before leaving for La Liga due to a £10 million release clause in his Newcastle contract.
Merino, now 27, left Tyneside and has amassed almost 20 caps for Spain. In addition, he was selected for the 2022–2023 La Liga Team of the Year.
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