Paris Saint-Germains Champions League nightmare

Real Madrid pulls off the unthinkable, as Paris goes into shambles. Coming into the second leg of the champions league round of 16, PSG had a decent 1-0 aggregate lead over Madrid after Kyllian Mbappes last minute winner around 2 weeks ago. As the first half kicked off, the French side seemed to have a good control over the game, creating dangerous chances and making use of their luxurious front 3. Just before the half came to an end, a sublime through ball from Neymar Jr, led to a Kyllian Mbappe goal allowing for a 1-0 lead, adding another goal to the aggregate score. What seemed so promising quickly turned into a disaster, at the 60 minute mark.

An embarrassing mistake from Paris’s goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma handed Karim Benzema the equalizer. From that moment up to the final whistle, Madrid dominated. Applying a high block and constant pressure, los Blancos were able to put a muzzle on PSG’s front three and force countless mistakes from the build up play. Madrid’s domination was followed by two goals both scored by Karim Benzema within a minute apart from each other allowing him to complete a historical hattrick as one of Madrid's top 3 scorers of all time!

What seemed to be a sure win after Mbappe’s first half goal, resulted into one of the most humiliating defeats in champions league history. What happened to PSG? At the end of the day it comes down to a lack of composure and communication, which seems to be a recurring issue among the French giants. In almost every single champions league game, PSG starts off strong but ends off poorly. This was seen in both legs against Manchester city both last season in the knockout stages and this season during the group stages. PSG often goes into panic mode and begins to pass around the back, resulting in a given goal to the opposing side as seen during Wednesday’s game.

Madrid’s offense was the star of the show, their pressure upfront was the main catalyst in every goal. Karim Benzema has been seen as a symbol of hope for Madrid fans all over the world this season, and during the game against Paris there is no doubt that he outshone the rest. The French international earned himself a match rating of 9.6 whilst scoring three goals and claiming the man of the match award.

As the knockout stages come to an end, PSG might have to start rethinking their backroom staff and player choices whilst Madrid moves into a golden era with all of their fantastic young talent.

By Nick