Real Madrid produced a Champions League classic comeback as they overturned a two-goal aggregate deficit to eliminate Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain out of the competition.
PSG took the lead at Santiago Bernabeu in the 39′ mins as Neymar flicks the ball to Kylian Mbappe who opens up an angle to the far post and whips it at the small gap between Courtois and the nearest upright.
The French giants were the better side for an hour and then the atmosphere changed in the stadium which saw PSG made some mistakes and lost the tie in 10 mins.
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A goalkeeping howler from Gianluigi Donnarumma sparked the comeback which was completed by Karim Benzema’s splendid hat-trick.
A moment of madness by Donnarumma in 61′ mins, who was under pressure from Karim Benzema and gave the ball away to Vinicius Jr inside his own box. The Brazilian then played the ball back across to Benzema, who slotted in the equalizer.
Benzema 76 mins put Real Madrid ahead on the night with a trademark finish from Luka Modric who slides a short ball to the Frenchman. The tie was turned on its head just 12 seconds after PSG’s kick-off when the 34-year-old slotted home a loose ball from Marquinhos to cap off an incredible night at the Bernabeu.
Undoubtedly, the biggest moment of the night came when the Italian goalkeeper Donnarumma allowed the home side to get back into the tie, Whilst it was a moment of huge luck for the 13-time Champions.
An unbelievable comeback from Real Madrid who have booked their place into the quarter-finals of 2021-2022 Champions League.
That’s how Real Madrid won, sang the Bernabeu crowd, and that – embarrassingly – is how Paris Saint-Germain lose in Europe. Despite a 2-0 lead on aggregate by the best player in the world Kylian Mbappe, this Qatari state project have once again crashed out of the Champions League in the most cataclysmic fashion.
At 34 years and 80 days, Benzema is the oldest player to score a Champions League hat-trick. He surpasses Olivier Giroud, who was 34 years and 63 days when he hit a treble for Chelsea at Sevilla in 2020.
Karim Benzema made his 500th start for Real Madrid in all competitions, becoming only the second foreign player to reach this milestone in the club’s history after Roberto Carlos (524).
What a way to celebrate for the Frenchman!
