Real Madrid 3-1 Paris St-Germain (3-2 agg): Does PSG's Champions League exit spell the end for Mauricio Pochettino?

Mauricio Pochettino says the «next few weeks are not going to be easy» after his Paris St-Germain side let a 2-0 aggregate lead slip in their Champions League exit to Real Madrid.

With an hour gone in the second leg, the visitors were in complete control thanks to Kylian Mbappe's second goal of the tie.

But they were left stunned by Karim Benzema's 17-minute hat-trick and suffered another painful exit from the competition they covet more than any other.

«The first [Benzema] goal completely changed the game,» said Pochettino.

«For an hour, we were better than Real Madrid. The atmosphere changed in the stadium. We made some mistakes after that, we can't say we didn't. The worst feeling is that we were the better side, but we lost the tie in 10 minutes.

»Paris St-Germain have been chasing the Champions League for a number of years now.

«I'm really disappointed, upset — but these things can happen. The next few weeks are not going to be easy.»

Since moving under Qatari ownership in 2011, PSG have assembled a series of star-studded squads.

But their dreams of winning European club football's elite competition have been repeatedly undermined by several collapses from winning positions, including the 6-1 thrashing by Barcelona in 2017 and the last-16 defeat by Manchester United in 2019.

«We have been here before with PSG. Too many times, this is a huge failure. A lot is down to the players on the pitch because you can't make these mistakes,» French football journalist Julien Laurens told BBC Radio 5 Live.

«Pochettino will not be there next season, I can tell you that — unless they can't get [Zinedine] Zidane in. I don't even think he wants to be there; he wants to be in England.

»His family is still in London and he has been in a