Real Madrid 3 PSG 1 (Real Madrid win 3-2 on agg)
Carlo Ancelotti had said there was no need to go mad but no one was listening and why would they now? Suddenly there were a dozen men running down the touchline chasing Karim Benzema, the Frenchman disappearing under a pile of bodies while all round them 60,000 people completely lost their heads. The noise was so loud it made ears bleed.
How they won was barely believable, maybe even the most remarkable of an entire history of implausible tales at a club that specialises in them, another astonishing comeback completed, another epic European story. They had been grateful to be only one goal down when a ridiculous gift had given them a chance and now two strikes in barely a minute had given Benzema a hat-trick that took him above Alfredo Di Stefano in the all-time scoring charts and Madrid into the quarter-finals, somehow.
There was something laughable about Madrid’s first and comic book about the second, Luka Modric running from just outside his own area all the way to PSG’s where, via Vinicius, he set up Benzema to put Madrid into the lead on the night and level on aggregate. There hadn’t even been time to digest that when they scored the third, Benzema steering past PSG, pandemonium breaking out.
Their task had been made almost impossible but it was done, as are PSG, left with another failure to contemplate. One that had been unthinkable for much of a night that ended with Madrid’s players falling to their knees, history made in the most incredible manner.
Ancelotti had insisted that there was no need for is team to go mad, that it didn’t matter if the goal they sought could come in the first minute or the last. He had also talked though of a desire for Madrid to play higher and they certainly needed to step out from the shelter they had inhabited in Paris, to escape their own area occasionally, and here they did start on the front foot.
Vinicius, in particular, was quick to run at PSG. To concern them, too. He was away up the left twice inside the opening five minutes. Three minutes later, a superb run across the PSG area ended when he found Benzema, only for Lionel Messi to block. And then three minutes after that, Gianluigi Donnarumma had to dash out and clear against the advertising boards, immediately prompting three different ball boys to throw three different balls onto the pitch to try to get Madrid going while he was still off his line.
The problem was that Messi’s block had led to a swift break that concluded with Mbappe drawing a save from Thibaut Courtois that would be just the first of many and Madrid’s early energy dissipated. That was disappointing for Ancelotti for many reasons, not least the fact that when they did occasionally succeed in pressing, PSG looked decidedly uneasy. Mostly, the visitors came to look comfortable, taking control, Messi regularly dropping in to play, seemingly at his leisure.
Often it was done walking pace, until Mbappe accelerated and everyone else looked like they were going backwards. He and Neymar, twice, soon brought saves from Courtois and there were whistles as PSG’s possession became longer and longer. Ancelotti had talked about needing to be in the game at this point that felt like the best they could aspire to. Which they were and then, as if to prove he point, out of nowhere Benzema bent a sensational shot just past the far post, via Donnarumma’s fingers.
That was a warning, David Alaba waving his teammates forward. But it was PSG who had the next chance, after a lovely exchange between Messi and Neymar and they thought they had he lead when Mbappe sidefooted in, only for Mendes to be ruled off side. Two more warnings came, both headers from Benzema in as many minutes, and there was a nervousness about PSG defensively, a propensity to give the ball away in compromising positions that made you wonder if they might pay for not ending this. Which they would, eventually.
First though, Mbappe gave PSG the lead, Neymar’s quick ball turned into his path to run as Madrid pushed up the pitch. And when Mbappe runs there is no catching him. Setting off from inside his own half, he reached the edge of the area, looked Courtois in the eye, dipped his shoulder and smashed a shot in at the near post with an apparent ease that was almost insulting.
Another chance was wasted just before half time, five blue shirts deep inside the Madrid area wanting to walk it in, meaning Madrid could it last stop this for a moment and clear their heads before it was gone entirely. It might have been when Mbappe elegantly stepped past a bamboozled Courtois without even touching the ball only for the flag to go up again. The next time he was sent dashing through, Mbappe was blocked by the dives of Milito and Alaba.
Madrid though did have more of the ball now and soon had the goal transformed this place, an absurd gift from Donnarumma giving them a way back in. Caught out by Benzema, he needlessly lost possession virtually on his goal line. Vinicius collected the ball and rolled to Benzema to score. A minute later, Benzema headed just wide and the Bernabeu erupted, believing that this really could happen. Could? Would. PSG looked terrified.
Now it really was set up for the kind of comeback Madrid have built a history upon. – Guardian
