Record breaking Karim Benzema treble sends PSG crashing out of Champions League

Karim Benzema provided the magic as Real Madrid hammered PSG 3-1 to knock the French giants out of the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16 with a 3-2 aggregate.

After claiming a narrow 1-0 win in the first leg at the Parc Des Princes, PSG looked to get out of the blocks quickly against Real Madrid, and they got a lead thanks to an excellent finish from Kylian Mbappe in the 39th minute.

The Frenchman found himself through on goal after a first-time ball round the corner from Neymar set him free. He steadied himself before shooting and beating Thibaut Courtois at his near post.

Karim Benzema had tested PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma on a number of occasions, with the Italian goalkeeper proving to be equal to the task.

PSG continued to control proceedings as they passed the ball around with ease. Five minutes before their goal, Mbappe had seen a goal disallowed for offside. He had a second disallowed in the 54th minute after scoring from a Lionel Messi pass.

Real Madrid were gifted a way back into the tie as Donnarumma passed the ball to Vinicius Junior under pressure from Benzema, and the Brazilian winger set up his captain for a simple finish in the 61st minute.

After the equaliser from Karim Benzema, PSG began to show chinks in their armour, and they eventually capitulated in spectacular fashion.

Real Madrid leveled the tie only 15 minutes after the equaliser following some sensational football from 36-year-old Luka Modric. The Croatian midfielder took the ball from Neymar in front of his own box before carrying the ball almost half the length of the pitch before releasing a weighted pass to Vinicius Junior.

The Brazilian winger slowed down the attack and the ball eventually fell to Modric on the edge of PSG’s box. The veteran midfielder threaded a perfect ball into the path of Benzema, who smashed home from close range via a deflection off the sliding Marquinhos.

Within 60 seconds of scoring his and his side’s second, Benzema struck again after another gift from Marquinhos and PSG’s defence.

PSG lost the ball straight from kickoff, allowing Vinicius Junior to charge into their box with the ball. PSG captain Marquinhos snatched the ball from his national teammate before playing a careless pass across his box for Benzema to latch onto and finish first-time with the outside of his right boot.

Real Madrid held on to claim a very impressive and important win over star-studded PSG and have now proceeded to the last eight of the competition.

Karim Benzema has become the first player to ever score in 18 consecutive calendar years in the history of the UEFA Champions League. The striker also became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the competition and has scored the third-most goals in a Real Madrid shirt.