Real Madrid: 3 things we learnt from an incredible comeback win over PSG

I would’ve loved to say I knew Real Madrid were going to win, but hell if I knew. I couldn’t understand what happened, but after three bad halves of football, I wasn’t expecting the insane win over PSG in the second leg to advance to the quarter-finals.

A hat-trick from Karim Benzema – aided by a Modric masterclass – helped seal the deal for Real Madrid, as they now look to find out their opponents in the quarter-finals of the Champions League later this month. I am so happy.

Here are the three lessons learnt:

The negatives from this game need to be addressed, irrespective of the result

Real Madrid did not start the game well. They pressed high for 15 minutes, and there were already a couple of chances created for Mbappe to pounce on by then. They stopped pressing, and PSG took control. The team wasn’t fully in a medium block, they weren’t really pressing, they were caught between two worlds, the game plan was too inconsistent, and that’s how Real conceded the first goal.

Let’s talk about the right side for a little bit. There is no way in hell Marco Asensio deserves a spot on the roster. Would I argue that he’s at least good off the bench? Yes, he might be. But, it’s not worth it when Ancelotti decides that it’s time to start him in games he has no business starting in, based on a few good performances off the bench. How long would it take Ancelotti to realise this? How long will Asensio keep getting chances for? How long until one moment of brilliance in an otherwise really bad performance is not enough to warrant a starting spot? How long until this club realises which player is good enough and which player isn’t?

Trust me when I say that Rodrygo did more in his first five minutes than Asensio did in both legs combined. I’m not exaggerating. He was a great substitution, he should’ve started in a game like this.

Speaking of bad players, Dani Carvajal wasn’t great either. I’m not even talking about him getting smoked by Mbappe on a few occasions. I’m talking about everything else. Carvajal wasn’t great offensively, he left a lot of space behind, but only because he was forced to overlap and cover a lot of space because of Asensio’s reluctance to be useful. Still was a bad performance, though. Real Madrid need a right-back so bad.

Ancelotti, even after this performance, should not stay beyond this season. I’m not going to change my perspective based on one game. He still needs to go.

These issues need to be addressed if Real Madrid want to take the next step. They need better players. They need more options. They need more flexibility.

The second half performance showed the true side of Real Madrid, led by Karim Benzema and Luka Modric

I’m going to tell you all a little story. As I was writing my first half notes (which were negative, by the way, all of them) I was just praying for things to change. I wanted Real to win, and I wanted to disregard all my takeaways from the first half and I wanted to write about the disregarding of takeaways in my takeaways. I wanted Real to win, which would let me write about that. That’s what happened, and I am so glad it did. I apologise for the overcomplication.

I actually don’t have many words to say about Luka Modric and Karim Benzema. I’m running out of superlatives. As they all say, the best players tend to show up in the biggest moments, put the team on their back, and bully their way through victory, no two ways about it. It’s the only objective on their minds, and they do anything they can to make sure they’re successful.

Luka Modric and Karim Benzema are two such players. Luka Modric had an incredible second half. And my words cannot do justice to the beautiful run he made through PSG’s entire team in the build-up to the second goal.

As for Karim Benzema, I have no words. A hat-trick in the biggest competition of them all. In a do-or-die game. This performance was proof that he’s a player for the big occasions, and that he’s the best number nine in the world, one of the best number nines of all time, and an insanely good leader and an incredible, big-game player. That’s all I have to say.

Thank the Lord for Luka Modric and Karim Benzema. I love them so much. Alphas. Leaders. Big game players. Two of the greatest to ever do it.

Truth be told, though. We can’t give all the credit to these two players. Militao, Courtois and Alaba had incredible games in the defensive third. They were so vital, and I cannot emphasize this enough.

The pressing was so good in the second half! So good! I loved it!

Carlo Ancelotti’s substitutions were good. Rodrygo I’ve already talked about, but finally trusting Camavinga paid off. Of course, it did! Camavinga did everything right. Every single thing. He had a great game, and I have no doubts about him being a starter in the future. Even Vazquez had a good cameo off the bench.

Fede Valverde was great, he was everywhere and I loved watching him play. Vinicius Junior was really, really good as well. The only thing he didn’t do well was his shot-taking. All of them were a bit off.

That’s what most of my notes talk about. The rest of it looks a bit like this:

What a frickin’ game.

This Real Madrid performance certainly helped Mbappe in his decision making

So, after spending billions of euros in transfers, so much money in player wages, after so many rifts with managers, other clubs, players, was it all worth it for PSG? Was crashing out in the round of 16 of a competition they so desperately want to win worth it for PSG? Absolutely not. Did they deserve it? One hundred per cent.

It’s a shambolically run club, that doesn’t deserve to win the elusive trophy that is the Champions League. They don’t deserve any sort of success, especially not after what Nasser Al-Khelaifi reportedly did after the game on Wednesday.

They have football’s biggest, most marketable and, probably, the sport’s best player in their ranks for now, yet, they don’t deserve him one bit. They don’t deserve to be bailed out in every single game by Kylian Mbappe, and I think even he realises it now, which is probably why he’s reportedly signed his pre-contract with the club.

This win feels so special because it was against a club that isn’t well run. It isn’t worthy of the success it’s trying to achieve, and it doesn’t have the mentality it takes to actually win it all. Did you look at the players absolutely crumble once Real Madrid got their first goal? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before, either.

For Mbappe, it’s proof that if a team is splashing money on the best individuals, it doesn’t guarantee success. Never does. Look at the Brooklyn Nets. Look at Paris Saint-Germain. It’s a recipe for disaster if the club can’t do basic chemistry building to help the team. If the coach is not equipped to manage a team filled with so many huge egos. I think Mbappe knew that, deep inside, but it’s so good to see the whole thing implode the way it did.

It tells Mbappe exactly what he needs to know about Real Madrid as well. The performance shows that Real Madrid are much more equipped to win the big games, and the mentality runs through the veins of every player that plays for the club. Mbappe’s not any different, the man’s built for the big stage, and it’s a match made in heaven.

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If Mbappe somehow didn’t realise that Real Madrid is the club he needs to go to next season, well, now he has.