The veteran French striker, Karim Benzema, outshone the young French striker, Kylian Mbappe, as Real Madrid reasserted the old order, coming from two goals down to eliminate Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Here we look at three things we learned from the game:
Wait goes on for PSG
Le @PSG_inside est eliminé de la @ChampionsLeague @realmadrid 3⃣ – 1⃣ @PSG_inside
⚽️ @KMbappe 39′#𝗥𝗠𝗣𝗦𝗚 pic.twitter.com/7B3Vd7lUyw— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) March 9, 2022
With less than half an hour to go at the Bernabeu, the great Paris Saint-Germain gamble seemed to be paying off.
Last summer the club opted not to sell Kylian Mbappe, who will be a free agent after this season, and had invested heavily in an ageing Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos and also in young Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Mbappe scored to give PSG a 1-0 victory in the first leg. He then dazzled as PSG dominated the first hour in Madrid, scoring in the 39th minute putting his team two goals up.
Then Donnarumma, trying to play out of defence passed to Vinicius Junior who found Karim Benzema for a tap-in.
PSG imploded.
It wasn’t quite a collapse on a par with the infamous Camp Nou remontada in 2017 when Barcelona scored three times after the 88th minute to eliminate PSG 6-5 on aggregate. It was total nonetheless.
Benzema hit three in 17 minutes and PSG ended a tie they had dominated, looking like kids in a playground.
In the end, the team that historically finds a way to win in the Champions League, even when they should lose, beat the team that so often manages to lose when they should have won.
Mbappe looks at home – in Madrid
The buildup was dominated by the relentless speculation on the future of Mbappe, presumed to be heading to Real Madrid as the golden keystone in a rebuild of an ageing squad.
For an hour, Mbappe looked at home at the Bernabeu. He had already had two shots saved and an effort that hit the net ruled out for offside when he ran on to Neymar’s first-time past after 39 minutes. He froze the terrified David Alaba and then whipped a shot past Thibault Courtois.
His best moment came with an outrageous step-over to beat Courtois and net in the second half only to be ruled offside again.
Then PSG’s defence unravelled and Mbappe was reduced to a mere spectator as one of the Madrid pensioners he is slated to replace stole the show.
Old guard defend their turf
✍️ I guess we can add tonight to the list… https://t.co/8Kc155jdYs
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) March 9, 2022
Even as Real struggled for parity in the first hour, Benzema was clearly their goal threat, with a couple of dangerous first-half headers.
After an hour he changed the game. Even at 34, Benzema is sneakily fast and he still thinks quicker than most of his opponents. With Donnarumma dribbling round his goalmouth, Benzema pounced, allowing no easy escape. The goalie panicked, passed to Real’s lurking Vinicius who popped the ball back to Benzema for a tap-in.
Mauricio Pochettino, the PSG coach, complained that Benzema had slyly kicked Donnaruma, but neither the referee nor the VAR officials saw a foul.
“It was pressure,” said Benzema. “He waited and he waited and I pressed him.”
Benzema isn’t the only old timer shining for Real long past his seeming sell-by date.
Luke Modric, who is 36, set up Benzema’s second with a typical stabbed pass after 76 minutes.
PSG kicked off and rolled the ball back to their defenders. Vinicius gave chase, pressing Marquinhos who passed across his own box just as Benzema, the predator, arrived to side-foot his third. There were 11 seconds of play between the goals.
The last goal was the Frenchman’s 309th for Real, taking him past the legendary Alfredo di Stefano.
Only Raul (323) and Cristiano Ronaldo (451) have more for Real.
Since Ronaldo left, Benzema has thrived as the focus of a team without Galacticos. On Wednesday, he outshone Real’s likely next superstar.
“It was a big night in the Champions League, you musn’t let them slip by,” he said.
