Karim Benzema seals the show with hat-trick to send PSG packing

Karim Benzema’s sensational second-half treble sent Real Madrid through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Paris St Germain.

The 2020 runners-up looked set for a place in the last eight at half-time with Kylian Mbappe on target again having scored the only goal at Parc des Princes last month.

Fellow Frenchman Benzema stole the show though with a hat-trick after the break and his final two goals were separated by just 106 seconds in a 3-1 win that left Mauricio Pochettino’s men stunned with the pressure now ramped up on the former Tottenham boss.

A knock in training on Monday had briefly put Mbappe’s involvement in the round of 16 second leg in doubt but he was included in the starting XI and tested Thibault Courtois twice during the first quarter of an hour.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side had created chances of their own early on and Benzema forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a wonderful finger-tip save in the 25th minute.

PSG slowly grabbed the initiative and Lionel Messi almost produced another classic moment against his old rivals but was unable to find the target from a tight angle after a trademark run and one-two with Neymar outside the area.

Mbappe had the ball in the net with 34 minutes played but the offside flag went up after creator Nuno Mendes had strayed offside.

He was not denied five minutes later when a classic PSG counter-attack broke the deadlock.

Leandro Paredes won back possession, Neymar’s first-time pass over Eder Militao sent Mbappe away and after David Alaba had been squared up, the 2018 World Cup winner slotted into the bottom corner from 16 yards to silence the Bernabeu.

Two Benzema efforts provided a reminder of Madrid’s quality but PSG thought they had doubled their