Real Madrid 3-1 (3-2 on agg.) Paris Saint-Germain
A Champions League clash between two of football’s superpowers.
The game of the last 16, a meeting between the competition’s most successful side and the new super-rich Parisians who crave to be kings of Europe for the first ever time.
Los Blancos, the kings of Europe, playing to uphold that status against a club dreaming to challenge football’s status quo.
But, while Madrid have something Paris St-Germain crave, it also works in both directions.
Step forward one of the big stars in the world game; the potential heir to the throne of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
A player who settled the first leg three weeks ago with a last-gasp goal, a brilliant strike from a sizzling French forward.
The 22-year-old’s performance at the Parc des Princes was merely a continuation of his stunning Champions League campaign, in which he had scored six times and recorded six assists.
To give PSG a one-goal advantage was one thing though; to do so again in Madrid’s backyard and knock them out would be almost a symbol of what he is fast becoming and why Madrid want him to become their next megastar.
Something had to give – what would it be?
Highlights of the game
Madrid made four changes from the side that thrashed Real Sociedad in La Liga at the weekend as Toni Kroos started after recovering from a hamstring injury while Nacho, Asensio and Valverde also came in.
It was a strong side as Kylian Mbappe, Messi and Neymar all starting, although former Real captain Sergio Ramos was not in the PSG squad.
Two others were reunited though with goalkeeper Keylor Navas and Angel Di María among the substitutes.
Navas played in all three Champions League finals Madrid won from 2016-18, while Di Maria made 124 Liga appearances for the club between 2010 and 2015, scoring 22 goals and was named man of the match when they lifted their 10th European title in 2014.
On the flip side, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti was PSG manager for 18 months from 2011 and 2013, winning the Ligue 1 title in his only full season in charge.
A couple of days after their 120th birthday, Madrid needed to give themselves the best possible present by scoring at least twice and keeping a clean sheet.
That went out of the window five minutes before half-time when Mbappe raced onto a fine Neymar ball forward and his pace took him clear before he fired beyond Thibaut Courtois at his near post.
It was a strike which took Mbappe one ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the club’s second highest goalscorer (156 goals, behind only Edinson Cavani’s total of 200).
That seemed that and a crucial advantage in the competition that obsesses PSG, the only one that truly appears to matter for a club at the opposite end of the European scale when it comes to trophies.
The SBOTOP Champions League betting odds favoured them and they had a distinct edge even after the hour mark approached.
No wonder as the Spanish giants had been eliminated from nine of their last ten knockout ties in the Champions League when losing the first leg.
However, PSG has long been accused of lacking leaders and discipline.
However, Real Madrid is literally the club inspired by ‘impossible’ and treats ‘unlikely’ with a sneer.
Crucially, they also possessed Karim Benzema, a man set to create his own Champions League highlights portfolio to put Mbappe in the shade.
First visiting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma makes a mess of a clearance under pressure from Benzema and Vinicius Junior gained possession and picked out his strike partner who rifled in from close range.
Hope emanated around the Bernabeu which turned to belief when Benzema drove in a sumptuous pass from Luka Modric.
Two minutes later that belief turned to an eruption of sheer joy as the Frenchman pounced on a mistake from Marquinhos and completed a 16 minute hat-trick.
Not for the first time, rattled PSG had let slip a healthy lead on the biggest stage.
Something had given: Madrid had triumphed over Mbappe who may well make the Spanish capital his next destination.
Key statistics
This was Benzema’s third career Champions League hat-trick. Only Robert Lewandowski (five), Messi and Ronaldo (both eight) have scored more CL trebles.
Benzema now has 15 goals in his last 12 Champions League home matches. Overall, he has netted 67 goals for the La Liga side in the competition, one ahead of Raul (66) and behind only Ronaldo (105).
PSG have been eliminated from four of their nine Champions League knockout ties when winning the first leg. They have also won just one of their last nine Champions League away games against Spanish opposition (drawn two, lost six).
What’s next?
Madrid go to Mallorca in La Liga on Monday looking to maintain their lead at the summit before hosting Barcelona in El Clasico on March 20.
Runaway Lique 1 leaders PSG entertain Bordeaux on Sunday lunchtime.
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