Benzema hat-trick sees Real Madrid knock PSG out of Champions League

MADRID: Real Madrid pulled off one of the great Champions League comebacks on Wednesday as Karim Benzema scored a breath-taking hat-trick to upstage Kylian Mbappe and dump Paris Saint-Germain out in the last 16. Madrid were set to be the latest victims of another Mbappe masterclass at the Santiago Bernabeu after the 23-year-old ran them ragged for the best part of an hour and fired in to put PSG 1-0 up on the night, 2-0 ahead on aggregate.

But Madrid came storming back as Benzema capitalized on a mistake by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and then scored an incredible double in two minutes, the third coming within 11 seconds after PSG had kicked off. When the full-time whistle confirmed their 3-2 aggregate victory, many of Madrid’s players dropped to their knees and looked up to the sky, as much perhaps in disbelief as joy, after completing one of the most memorable turnarounds in the club’s recent history.

“Every game is a final now for us in the Champions League and La Liga but today we showed that Real Madrid is alive,” said Benzema. PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino fumed at referee Danny Makkelie for not whistling for a foul in the build-up to the first Madrid goal.

“Explaining what happened is easy, there was a foul on Donnarumma during the first goal, and that changed everything,” he said. “It’s hard not to talk about this big refereeing mistake, which I don’t understand and won’t forgive.

I don’t understand why the referee didn’t call VAR.” All eyes were on Mbappe, who was the only player to be cheered by Madrid’s fans before the game as they were gifted an up-close preview of the player they hope will be theirs this summer. Mbappe delivered, scoring a superb goal, not to mention a spellbinding second that was