Paris Saint Germain defeats Real Madrid, moves an inch closer to the quarters

It was late and, in the end, it was great for Paris Saint Germain. Kylian Mbappe’s 94th minute strike helped Paris defeat Real Madrid in the pre quarter finals. The fans at the Parc De Princes were thrilled to see Mbappe dribble past and put the ball in the back of the net at the dying stages of the match.

Talking about Real Madrid, absolutely nothing worked for the men in white. Paris put a lot of pressure on them right from the first whistle and it remained the same till the last. Madrid took the risk by playing Benzema, who was injured and out for three weeks and it sort of backfired. He was not committing and because of that Real Madrid couldn’t really put any pressure. Players like Vinicius and Asensio was also terrible. Vini was in Hakimi’s pocket as the winger couldn’t move past the former Real Madrid player even once in the entire match.

Carlo Ancelotti is facing the heat for taking a defensive approach in such a crucial match. Real Madrid is known for counter-attacking football but it was nowhere to be seen against Paris. Unfortunately, Carlos Casemiro and Ferland Mendy have picked up their 5th yellow card of the tournament and will be out of the 2nd leg at Santiago Bernabeu. This is definitely a huge blow for the Blancos as without Casemiro, things won’t be any easy for them.

Paris could’ve easily won the match by 3-4 goals but the team missed a lot of opportunities to convert. Lionel Messi, their marquee signing of the summer missed a penalty on the 62nd minute of the match after Thibaut Courtois jumped to his left and saved it brilliantly. Angel Di Maria was brilliant once again in an important match. He was at the heart of all the attacks that Paris was creating. Only if the other players would have converted from the opportunities.

Things are going to be very difficult for Real Madrid in the return leg if they don’t improve their performance. Vinicius is yet to prove his mettle in the Champions League and Karim Benzema needs to be absolutely fit. Last night, even Tonis Kroos and Luka Modric were under a lot of pressure and at times succumbed to the pressure. If anything, they need to get rid of their defensive tactics and play the kind of football only Real Madrid knows how to play. “90 minutes is a long time at Santiago Bernabeu '', it’s time Real Madrid prove that sentence once again!