On Wednesday evening, two more quarter-final matches of the 2017-18 season of the UEFA Champions League were played.
The most attention was drawn to the match at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, where the struggling Madrid "Real" faced Paris "Saint-Germain". Zinedine Zidane's students lived up to their champions' name - rising after conceding a goal and celebrating a dramatic victory with a score of 3-1.
From the very beginning of the match, the fans-supported "Real" took the initiative and tried to spend more time with the ball than their opponents. The first episode where the hosts could score was created in the 26th minute - Marcelo made a fantastic pass to Cristiano Ronaldo, who ran towards the goal alone and only due to the goalkeeper's selflessness, the first goal did not fall.
However, soon the hosts were punished themselves - in the 33rd minute Kylian Mbappe made a fast pass into the penalty area, Neymar comfortably passed the ball to Adrien Rabiot, who silenced the "Santiago Bernabeu" stands with an accurate shot: the score became 1-0.
"Real" was a bit shaken, but the champion's character did not allow them to give up in these matches. Right at the end of the first half, the "whites" received a favorable decision from the referee when he awarded a penalty kick to PSG. C. Ronaldo did not tremble - the Portuguese equalized the score with a strong shot, and the battle moved to the second half of the match.
The second half began with a more confident game from the PSG team. The Parisians dominated with the ball and posed a threat to the "Real" defended goal, but the hosts managed to avoid serious problems.
Z. Zidane decided to make changes and three substitutions had a huge impact in these matches - Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio, and Lucas Vazquez appeared on the field.
In the 83rd minute, the Madrid stadium triumphed - a sharp pass into the penalty area by Marco Asensio forced the opponents' goalkeeper to unsatisfactorily deflect the ball, which hit C. Ronaldo's path and ended up in the goal. "Real" unexpectedly took the lead, and PSG completely fell apart after the goal.
"Real" took advantage of the opponent's lack of concentration and three minutes later sent a third goal into their net. Another great pass by M. Asensio allowed Marcelo to score, who found himself in the opponent's penalty area from his position and skillfully defeated Alphonse Areola with a precise shot.
During the remaining time, PSG could not reach their second goal, so the final score remained 3-1. The "Real" team gained a two-goal advantage and will travel to Paris next month with high chances of moving on to the quarter-finals.
In the other quarter-final match, there were no surprises left - "Liverpool" bombarded the "Porto" goal and almost guaranteed their place in the quarter-finals.
The star of the match was Sadio Mane, who scored a hat-trick, and then Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino added another goal each. "Liverpool" celebrated a crushing victory and will seek to finish the formalities at the "Anfield" stadium.
Results:
"Real Madrid" 3 - 1 PSG
33' [0 - 1] A. Rabiot
45' [1 - 1] C. Ronaldo (11m. penalty kick)
83' [2 - 1] C. Ronaldo
86' [3 - 1] Marcelo
"Porto" 0 - 5 "Liverpool"
25' [0 - 1] S. Mane
29' [0 - 2] M. Salah
53' [0 - 3] S. Mane
69' [0 - 4] R. Firmino
85' [0 - 5] S. Mane
