Benzema Stunning Hat-Trick Knocks PSG Out Of The Champions League And Sends Real Madrid To The Quarter-finals

Karim Benzema bags a stunning hattrick as Real Madrid knocked-out Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League on Wednesday night.

PSG had headed into the second-leg last-16 tie at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu protecting a one-goal lead from the first leg at Parc des Princes three weeks ago, where Kylian Mbappe struck a late stoppage time winner to win the game. 

The French forward, who received a warm reception from the Bernabeu crowd, forced Courtois into two low saves inside the opening 13 minutes, and then Neymar had an attempt that was comfortably dealt with almost 10 minutes later.

PSG continued from where they stopped on the night, as they took the lead again in the first half (39 mins) through Kylian Mbappe to give PSG a 2-0 lead on aggregate.

Real Madrid looked down and out at half-time as the tie was now beyond them, but Karim Benzema rises to the occasion when it mattered most to flip the tie on its head, as Real Madrid come back to defeat PSG.

A second-half superb hat-trick by Karim Benzema in the 61st, 76th, and 78th minutes respectively sent the Los Blancos side into the quarter-finals.

The comeback for Madrid started with an horrendous error from Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second half, he panicked when pressed by Benzema into a hurried pass, which led him to pass the ball straight to Vinicius, who returned it to the Frenchman. Benzema then made no mistake in firing into the back of the net to spark Madrid into life.

An absolute scenes followed for the most successful side in the competitions history (13-time winners), and yet another bottlejob in the Champions League from PSG.

Mauricio Pochettino speaking after the game said: "We were the best team in both games. It all played out in 10 minutes. Given the way we conceded the second and third goals, there was nothing we could do.

"The players were upset about the situation, and football is about emotions. We have made a few mistakes. It's very difficult to manage a team after this kind of event. I am very disappointed and very upset." 

"We suffered a lot but held on," Ancelotti said after being asked about the comeback. "We had problems getting the ball, but good pressure from Karim allowed us to equalise and then the magic of the Bernabeu appeared.

"From 1-1 there was only one team going to win."

Both Benzema and Luka Modric earned a lot of praise on the night, with each of them having spectacular second-half performances.

"They're better every day," Ancelotti said, beaming. "I have the pleasure of working with them.

"Karim had an injury and now he's back. Luka always plays at his best, wherever he plays."

"If we're playing well we can compete against any team," Ancelotti said. "Things have changed because we played better tonight.

"Luck, of course, helps.

"Tonight was the magic of the stadium and a club with great history. I've had a lot of games in this competition and there were few like tonight.

"Hopefully it won't be forgotten, and it will lead us to do well throughout this Champions League."

So, Real Madrid will be in the quarter-final draw next week at the UEFA's headquarters in Nyon on Friday March 18.

The La Liga leaders, will have to wait to find out their next opponents, when the quarter-finals and semi-finals draws will be made, having joined Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Man City as the only sides to have progressed to the last-8 so far.