Wayne Lumbasi
Real Madrid bagged three second-half goals to seal an unbelievable comeback and dump Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday night.
Karim Benzema scored a hat trick in less than 20 minutes in the second half as Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Seeking to overturn a one-goal deficit, real flew out of the gates and showed more attacking impetus than we saw from them in the entire first leg.
They got in behind PSG’s back line three times inside the opening five minutes but couldn’t make that early pressure count. Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the first half to increase PSG’s aggregate lead after the France striker also netted in stoppage time to secure a 1-0 first-leg win in Paris.
PSG came out for the second half knowing that, unless they shipped three goals, they were through.
This was a chance to correct their record of collapsing when the pressure is on in Europe. They failed the assignment. While they continued to move the ball well and keep it away from the hosts, Real Madrid looked more comfortable than they did in the first half.
Benzema evened the match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in the 61st after a blunder by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, then scored again in the 76th and 78th minutes to give the 13-time European champions a 3-2 aggregate win.
Madrid reached the last eight for the second straight season after consecutive eliminations in the round of 16, while PSG failed to live up to the massive expectations after adding Lionel Messi to its star-studded team this season.
Madrid was without Ferland Mendy and Casemiro because of yellow-card suspensions, but Toni Kroos started after being doubtful because of muscle injury. Federico Valverde replaced Casemiro, while Nacho Fernández started at left back instead of veteran Marcelo.
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