Real Madrid battles past PSG to secure quarter-final qualification for eight straight seasons
SteemSports Presenter:@rickie
SteemSports Editor:@scottybuckets
Despite having a terrible season domestically, which they would hope to forget very quickly, Real Madrid the European Champions, secured a rather smooth passage into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the current 2017/2018 season following a 2 - 1 win in Paris and a 5 - 2 win on aggregates.
The Line-Up
Paris Saint-Germain: Areola, Alves, Silva, Marquinhos, Berchiche, Verratti, Motta, Rabiot, Di Maria, Mbappe, Cavani.
Real Madrid: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kovacic, Vazquez, Asensio, Benzema, Ronaldo.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)
Venue: Parc des Princes
Attendance: 46,585
Real Madrid who won the first leg at the Bernabeu by 3 – 1, courtesy of a Ronaldo double, and a late Marcelo goal, had an obvious edge in the tie going into the second leg. But with the huge transfers and investment carried out recently at PSG, a much better performance was expected from the French League leaders.
The world’s most expensive player, Neymar Jr missed the game via injury but a PSG who are sitting 14 points clear at the top of the French League were expected to give Real Madrid a tougher fight, but that never materialized.
The first half ended in a barren draw but Cristiano Ronaldo who has kept up his good run of form in the Champions League, continued from where he stopped against PSG in the first in which Madrid won 3 – 1, when he headed in a Lucas Vasquez cross 6 minutes into the second half to give Real Madrid the lead in France.
The night got even worse for PSG who were in need of a 4 goal win against Real Madrid to stand a chance of scaling through to the next round, when midfielder Marco Verratti, got sent off for two bookable offences, in the 66th minute of the game. The first of the Italians booking came for a foul on Casemiro, and the second for dissent after sprinting and challenge the decision of referee Felix Brych.
Edinson Cavani eventually pulled a goal back for the French side on the 71st minute via a deflected ball which first struck Casemiro before hitting the Uruguayan forward and entering the net. Seven minutes after Cavani’s equalizer on the night, the game was wrapped up via Casemiro's heavily deflected strike which sealed a comfortable victory for Real Madrid, the present defending and European Kings.
A very disappointing PSG side would rue their missed chances and injury trouble as Neymar who a lot of people expected would turn the fortunes of the French side in Europe, missed the crucial tie due to an injury that is set to keep him off for a reported six to eight weeks. This would be the second successive exit for PSG, in the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League, and it puts the future of manager Unai Emery up in the spotlight again; as rumors suggest that he may be replaced given the poor fortunes of the Paris-based club in Europe in the last two seasons.
As for Real Madrid, their qualification to the next stage of the Champions League, being the quarter-final stage, means that for eight successive seasons in a row, they have not failed to make it past the round of 16. If things go well for them on and off the pitch, Real Madrid could be pushing to set a new European record of successive UCL wins; as they are course for a third UEFA Champions League title in a row.
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My team Real Medrid Upvote and followed. Stay blessed.
the presence of neymar jr was not a difference in the real result madrid was comfortable at all times the difference was made by the technician zidane excellent approach
Yea, I think I agree with you @jos3lider. Neymar's presence on the night, might not have changed the outcome of the game or tie.
Today I was on a coffee shop... and the barman said a client:
Do you already understand? Do you? Your team Real Madrid doesn't matter the League... they give the league up... they only really want Champions League. And that's a shame cause you pay, as membership, the annual fee for all the season league.
I don't like so much football but I realize the barman could have reason. Actually Champions League give more publicity credits than Spanish League... and this, football, turn around business not around sport.
As Cruyff used to say : "El futbol es asi, ¿no?"
congratulations for real madrid
Banzema lol