Real Madrid late show sinks PSG, Liverpool blow Porto away
February 14, 2018
Real Madrid 3-1 Paris Saint-Germain
(Ronaldo pen 45', 83', Marcelo 86' — Rabiot 33')
Real Madrid scored two goals in the last seven minutes to earn a flattering victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Spanish capital.
Zinedine Zidane went into the game under pressure for a win, having overseen a poor run of form since the turn of the year that has seen the 12-time European Cup winners slide to fourth in La Liga.
But it was the French visitors who created the best of the first half chances and when the opener was scored by the runaway Ligue 1 leaders it wasn't entirely unexpected.
Kylian Mbappe whipped in an early cross that Nacho's outstreched leg directed into the path of Adrien Rabiot, who calmly passed the ball beyond Keylor Navas.
Toni Kroos was hauled down in the penalty box by surprise starter Giovani Lo Celso, and Ronaldo fired the resulting penalty into the bottom corner, grazing the fingertips of goalkeeper Alphonse Areola on its way in.
PSG controlled long periods of the second half but couldn't turn their possession into a second goal, and Real Madrid turned the game seven minutes from time when Ronaldo pounced on a loose ball in the box.
But Real Madrid weren't done there. Marcelo connected with Marco Asensio's cross and the Brazilian's shot deflected off PSG captain Marquinhos and into the net, handing Real Madrid a clear advantage heading to Paris and easing some of the pressure on Zidane.
Porto 0-5 Liverpool
(Mane 25' 53' 85', Salah 29', Firmino 70')
Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool have one foot in the quarterfinals after an impressive performance in Porto.
Sadio Mane opened the scoring when his low shot squeezed under Jose Sa. Liverpool had doubled their lead four minutes later when James Milner's shot came off the post and landed at the feet of Mohamed Salah, who juggled the ball and finished with supreme confidence to nab his 30th goal of the season.
Mane added a third eight minutes after the break and Roberto Firmino joined the party when he finished Milner's cross from the left.
But the star of the show was Mane, who joins Michael Owen, Yossi Benayoun and Philippe Coutinho as the only Liverpool players to score Champions League hat-tricks, when he notched Liverpool's fifth of the night.