A hat-trick from Karim Benzema in the second half sent Real Madrid to the Champions League quarter-finals, at the expense of Paris Saint-Germain, who regained the “return” (3-1) on Wednesday after the eighth return frenzy.
In the evening meeting, Manchester City finished the task against Sporting Lisbon (0-0), after winning (5-0) in the first leg of Portugal.
The Parisians were victorious at the Parc des Princes (1-0), and have always believed they would hold onto their qualification.
But a mistake in recovery from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma turned their evening into a nightmare, reviving the memory of the terrible “comeback” that Barcelona suffered in 2017.
The Italian’s mistake gave a target gift to Benzema (61), who revived the then-extinct Madridists.
Paris had turned the fur promised to Real Madrid into a flash in the pan, after Kylian Mbappe’s opener (39th place).
After Jijiu’s mistake, the ground sagged under their boots. The strongest earthquake lasted one minute and 46, which is the time when Benzema scored his second and third goals this evening at Nashwa Stadium (76, 78).
“Nuvi” took the opportunity to beat the brilliant Alfredo Di Stefano and become Real Madrid’s third scorer.
The blow was so hard on PSG that he was physically overwhelmed and he didn’t even have a chance to grab the extension.
Finalist in 2020, to the semi-finals in 2021, Paris Saint-Germain are taking a huge step back, after this elimination which puts a hasty end to their European season.
stress free city
The return to Paris will likely be longer since PSG have been dreaming so badly since recruiting Lionel Messi last summer, the seven-ball-winning man who has once again disappointed.
But the Argentine “Bulga” had the opportunity to score (31), as did Neymar (22), but the Paris stars made way for the Madrid group.
Only Mbappe kept his rank. This could be his last match as a Parisian at C1, as his contract expires at the end of June and no agreement has been reached so far to extend it.
The question of his future will arise in the next few weeks in the capital which, without the Coupe de France (the elimination from the eighth), will look very boring.
Unlike Manchester City. Pep Guardiola may have said on Tuesday that “nothing has been done” and it was difficult to take the Sky Blues coach’s word on it. His team killed the suspense in the first leg and won (5-0) in Lisbon.
The second round at the Etihad Stadium confirmed the superiority of the “citizens” who allowed themselves to play in the last quarter of the hour with their third goalkeeper, Scott Carson. They only missed one target.
Riyad Mahrez’s unhappy teammates who reached the finals last season appear to be among the most dangerous candidates to win the title, such as Bayern and Liverpool, who qualified on Tuesday.
