Cristiano Ronaldo and Casemiro scored for Real Madrid as the holders won 2-1 away to Paris Saint-Germain to ease into the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday
Cristiano Ronaldo. Pic/AFP
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Real Madrid secured their place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday after winning2-1 away to the French side, Paris Saint-Germain in Paris. Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo and forward Carlos Casemiro got the goals for Real Madrid side while Edinson Cavani scored on the night for PSG. The French side was without star striker Neymar, who has been sidelined due to injury.
In the first leg in Spain last month, Ronaldo had scored twice — including his 100th goal for Real in the competition — as they won 3-1. He broke the deadlock with a header early in the second half at the Parc des Princes effectively ending the French club's hopes of progressing. Edinson Cavani equalised on the night for PSG, but only after they had Marco Verratti sent off, and Casemiro's late goal secured an ultimately comprehensive 5-2 aggregate victory for Zinedine Zidane's side.
"We played well right from the beginning, pressing them high up the field. It was a perfect match. This is not an easy place to come and play well," said Zidane. PSG never looked like turning the tie around in the absence of the injured Neymar, and it was a horribly flat way for them to exit the competition. "It was in the first leg that we lost the tie. We are all disappointed that things did not go as we hoped," Adrien Rabiot told beIN Sports. "We controlled the game well in the first half but couldn't get the goal to make them doubt themselves, and once we were down to 10 men it became impossible."
As they limp out, Real's dream of becoming the first team in more than 40 years to win three successive European Cups remains alive. A year after their spectacular collapse against Barcelona in the last 16, when they were humiliated 6-1 away in the return after a stunning 4-0 win at home, PSG had hoped to produce a memorable comeback themselves this time. Yet, shorn of the world's most expensive player, who is back in Brazil recuperating from a foot operation, they struggled to create chances, and the night will also be remembered for the stupidity of a section of their supporters. Flares were lit en masse on several occasions at one end of the ground, once even leading to a brief stoppage in play, and PSG will face punishment from UEFA as a result.
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With inputs from agencies
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