Real Madrid 2(5)-1(2) Paris Saint-Germain: Champions League recap
Real Madrid prevails against the Parisians as they head to their eight consecutive Champions League quarterfinals. Madrid played a wonderful match and was on top of their opponents from the get-go. Here’s a quick look back at the match.
First Half
The match started off with both teams putting the pedal to the metal so to speak. At the Parc Des Prince, the atmosphere was intimidating, even through a screen. The game didn’t really settle down until midway through the first-half with sloppy passing from both sides. Real Madrid was struggling to string up a few passes early on but that too came to them with time.
With both teams fiercely trying to get a goal early, it became quite a physical match with plenty of fouls. PSG broke on Real Madrid on a couple of occasions but the attack was warded off by great coverage by Real’s wingbacks.
Dani Carvajal was called upon plenty of times as both Angel Di María and Kylian Mbappe flooded his side with pressure. The Spaniard was in fine form controlling the ball well in tight spaces and did well to not get distracted by the fancy footwork. Dani also got involved in the attacking play numerous times which caused even more trouble for PSG.
Real Madrid knew that PSG would come out in full force as they were already two goals down after the first-leg. Los Blancos did a superb job in closing out the attack starting from the midfield. Zidane elected to play both Mateo Kovacic and Casemiro, creating a double pivot effect.
This tactic worked wonders as the duo took care of any potential threats. Kovacic, though, took one for the team with a foul as PSG were about to break. This would see the Croat come off later in the second-half for Toni Kroos with a yellow card.
Ronaldo got the ball up a number of times but with the flat 4-4-2 formation he was often stranded upfield alone.
He looked full of energy making runs on and off the ball that truly foreshadowed what was to come in the second-half. Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio did well in the midfield and helped with man coverage but this changed for the better later on in the match.
The best chance of the half came from Karim Benzema. The striker went solo against PSG’s goalkeeper, Areola, but was unable to capitalize. The first half ended with a furious Edison Cavani and emotions running high and wild.
Second Half
The second-half slowly turned in favor of Real Madrid. Most of the possession in the opening minutes of the second-half was controlled by PSG. That all changed in the 51st minute through Cristiano Ronaldo.
Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio teamed up on the left side of the pitch to push the ball forward swiftly. Lucas whipped in a cross that was met by none other than CR7 himself.
The Portuguese man towered over his defenders heading the ball past Areola. The goalkeeper was nowhere close to saving the attempt as Real took the lead.
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In the following 20-minutes, a lot would change for both sides. Javier Pastore would come to replace Thiago Motta to add another attacking piece to the puzzle.
Marco Verratti who was cautioned in the first-half would be sent off. The Italian midfielder was shown a red card after lashing out in the face of the German referee.
Edison Cavani would score in the 71st minute to draw the game level. The Uruguayan striker pounced on a bobbling ball just feet from Navas’ goal. In the ensuing minutes, both Toni Kroos and Gareth Bale would come in replacing Mateo Kovacic and Karim Benzema respectively.
From this point on, Madrid started to play with more incisive passing, maintaining possession and not forcing the attack. This tactic was helpful as PSG looked tired and defeated giving no chase for the ball. With just over 10 minutes remaining Sergio Ramos got excited and decided to pick up yet another yellow card.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro sealed the win for his side in the 80th minute. He found the ball near the top of the box and opted to smack it towards Areola. While the ball did take a deflection, it was in his benefit as it went up and over the PSG defender.
Isco would come on late for Marco Asensio picking up a few minutes. From this point on, with the match undoubtedly decided, multiple Madrid players tried scoring a goal. Shots were flying in on Areola from every direction.
This is the Real Madrid that somehow comes out of hibernation time and again despite poor performances in the domestic league. Heading into the quarterfinals is not something many thought would be possible this season.
Overall it was a class performance by the Whites who showed that buying the biggest names doesn’t mean much in this competition. The awareness, strength, and determination shown by this team were simply remarkable.
Next: How did Real Madrid fare in February?
Stat Attack
- 8 straight – Real will be making their 8th straight UCL QF appearance, only Barcelona with 10 has done it more.
- 12 goals – Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored in all eight games of the CL he’s participated in this season scoring 12 goals.
- 9 consecutive – Ronaldo has now scored in 9 consecutive CL matches with 22 goals in 13 games.
- 33 yellow cards – the number of yellow cards received by center-back Sergio Ramos, the most by any player in the competition.
- 100 appearances – today marked 100 appearances for Karim Benzema in the Champions League