When it seemed that Kylian Mbappe, who could be his next player, had crushed him, when it seemed that his festival had finished with Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti’s team got up from the canvas in the most unexpected way and, in a display of courage, in memory of those nights of comeback, under the protection of a triplet by the Frenchman Karim Benzema, he liquidated the almighty PSG from the trident and qualified for the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Another night of those that will go down in memory of Real Madrid, which fervently watched, in a crazy Bernabéu, the reaction of his team against a rival that had been more than superior, with a stellar Mbappe, Neymar and Messi as luxury pitchers, and a set of its own that had revealed some of its gaps.
Until the moment of the first Real Madrid goal, everything was party and joy at PSG. He had commanded on the pitch and tactically. And Mbappé had shone like other great figures have done with the added morbidity that his future could go through Real Madrid, which showed him that he never gives up and that for a reason he has thirteen continental crowns in his windows, for nights and reactions like this .
In the first leg Mbappe made it 1-0 for the French team in extra time. So Real Madrid opted for almost complete withdrawal and with a stellar Thibaut Courtois they were able to reach the end and even this second leg alive. But at the Santiago Bernabéu, where the white team seemed to have lost the mystique of yesteryear, they found more space and many meters ahead. It was lethal.
PSG had two approaches from the start and even had a Nuno Gomes goal disallowed for offside. He did not forgive the third time and seemed to sentence the tie despite the fact that the king of Europe refused to give up early and when he found Karim Benzema’s goal he dreamed of completing the comeback.
The confrontation, at least until the first goal, once again made it clear that this Paris Saint Germain is superior, pound for pound, gram for gram, to this Real Madrid. If he pressed, he was generally overwhelmed by the quality of Mauricio Pochettino’s pupils with Leo Messi as conductor together with Marco Verratti and with Neymar also as a luxury companion and if he backed down, they ended up reaching him inside the area again.
If you add important mistakes and turnovers to that, the situation had to fall under its own weight. The company, as the match progressed, became more than difficult for Carlo Ancelotti’s team.
After a fiery, pressing and lively start from Real Madrid, PSG settled down. Mbappe began to look like Usain Bolt for the green of the Bernabéu. Each error in the mark or with the ball punished him millimetrically. He warned twice, the Dutchman Danny Makkelie annulled a goal for offside by the Portuguese Nuno Gomes and six minutes before the break a loss by Carvajal allowed Neymar to send the Frenchman, who this time did not fail against Courtois. This goal made the tie more expensive for Real Madrid to limits close to impossible, due to the result and the sensations left by both teams on the pitch and especially Mbappé.
With half an hour to go, Real Madrid believed and PSG disappeared. In two minutes, between 76 and 78, Benzema completed his triplet and the comeback. Pochettino’s painting, completely overwhelmed, seemed different. Like Real Madrid. Neither Di María’s exit nor Mbappe’s last attempts managed to force the extra time. Real Madrid, who were knocked out by what could be their future idol, had made what seemed almost utopian.
