Football – Champions League | Real Madrid beats PSG 2-1 in Paris to reach quarters

Paris Saint-Germain’s dream of joining Europe’s elite with a Champions League trophy will have to wait another season, as Real Madrid delivered a brutal reality check by cruising through to the quarterfinals with a 2-1 win yesterday [Macau time].

Cristiano Ronaldo’s powerful header — his 12th goal of the competition — and a deflected effort from midfielder Casemiro either side of a close-range finish from PSG’s Edinson Cavani sent Madrid through 5-2 on aggregate.

Peaking at the right time, Madrid can be confident of challenging for a third straight title and 13th overall.

PSG still has not reached the semifinals since its lone appearance in 1995. PSG’s ambitious club motto of “Dream Bigger” should perhaps now be revised. On this evidence, and last season’s humiliation at the hands of Barcelona, PSG remains a club more hopeful than convincing. Despite huge investment from cash-rich Qatari owners QSI since 2011, PSG has not been past the quarterfinals in that time.

“We needed our heads and our hearts today. But we didn’t have both, we didn’t play as well as Real Madrid,” dejected PSG coach Unai Emery said. “Madrid deserved to go through. I think they controlled 60 percent of the game and we didn’t do enough with the 40 percent we had. Losing to Real Madrid itself isn’t a disappointment, but being knocked out in the last 16 is.”

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, PSG’s fragile defense crumbled and its attack offered little threat without the injured Neymar. The biggest bang from this PSG side was from the fireworks constantly let off by a section of fans behind one goal.

Cavani’s goal gave PSG some hope with 20 minutes left. But with midfielder Marco Verratti already sent off, scoring two more to force extra time was beyond a lackluster PSG side.

Instead, midfielder Casemiro’s deflected shot looped past stranded goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in the 80th. He was gifted the ball after midfielder Adrien Rabiot dealt poorly with Lucas Vazquez’s cross.

To compound a miserable night for PSG fans, who so badly want to believe this side can conquer Europe, Verratti showed terrible composure to in getting sent off midway through the second half. He got a second yellow card, having protested vehemently with referee Felix Brych after not getting a free kick.

“Our fans got behind us, I apologize to them,” Rabiot said. “We tried but we couldn’t do it.”

Ronaldo had already done his usual damage.

The Champions League’s all-time leading scorer was given far too much space and leapt triumphantly to beat Areola with a downward header in the 51st minute. He had netted twice in the first leg.

Ronaldo is hitting top form at a crucial time and has scored in nine Champions League games in a row, matching Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record.

This was a huge test for a PSG side desperate to prove it belongs among Europe’s elite, especially after spectacularly failing last year — becoming the first team eliminated after winning the first leg 4-0. Barcelona won the return 6-1.

“Maybe tonight they weren’t so good, but it’s also because we played very well,” Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Obviously it became harder for them when we scored the second goal.”

In the night’s other match, five-time champion Liverpool eased into the last eight, drawing 0-0 at home to two-time winner Porto after winning the away leg 5-0.

The atmosphere was electric at Parc des Princes in Paris, with thick smoke engulfing the stadium a pre-match pyrotechnics were set off. PSG’s exuberant fans were asked to “stop letting off flares” over the stadium loud speaker just after the interval.

This was all part of a concerted effort to motivate the players. The club’s communications department had released a video, urging fans to rally behind the team seemingly as a matter of urgency for the city itself. Neymar also posted a video on Twitter, with the words “Vous allez le Faire” (You will do it).

Banners around the ground encouraged the team and some fans had already taken matters into their own hands. Late into the night before the game, a small group of PSG Ultras let off bangers, chanted “Paris” and banged a drum outside the Real Madrid team hotel.

But all this bluster seemed more like bluff.

After a fairly even first half, Ronaldo headed wide early in the second half — a warning sign.

Moments later he headed home Vazquez’s pinpoint cross from the left after a quick break down the left from the impressive Marco Asensio, astutely selected ahead of Gareth Bale by Zidane.

“Tactically we played the right way, we believe in what we’re doing,” Zidane said. “We closed them down high up the pitch.”

Madrid could have had further goals breaking forward on counterattacks, with Asensio and Ronaldo hitting the post. Jerome Pugmire, Paris, AP

Nine years later, Liverpool back in quarterfinals

There’s a familiar name back in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

“It’s time we showed up again,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said after his team secured a place in the last eight for the first time in nine years.

It couldn’t have been an easier passage for the five-time European champions, either, as they coasted to a 0-0 draw against Porto to clinch a 5-0 aggregate win in the last 16.

Having scored five goals without reply in a dazzling first-leg display in Portugal three weeks ago, this was always going to be a procession for Liverpool at Anfield — a ground that has been something of a fortress this season.

At times, it felt like the English club was going through the motions, especially since it faces a huge Premier League game against Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday.

No major injuries were sustained — captain Jordan Henderson had strapping applied to his right thigh after the game, but Klopp said it was nothing more than a dead leg — and Liverpool rarely looked like conceding.

Now, a member of European soccer’s royalty can look forward to the draw for the quarterfinals on March 16. They return as the competition’s top scorers this season with 28 goals and will be feared by the other qualifiers.

“This year, we belong there,” Klopp said, “it should not be a surprise. There will be seven other very good teams — maybe four of them will be from England, which doesn’t make to easier, to be honest. But we have a chance, for sure, to go through to the semifinals.”

Porto coach Sergio Conceicao was even more confident about Liverpool’s chances.

“Liverpool are definitely one of the teams that can win the competition,” he said. “They are a really strong team, everyone knows that.”

Porto, the Portuguese league leader, had to go one better but Klopp’s decision to field a strong team rendered that unlikely scenario even more inconceivable. The joint-top scorer in the Premier League — Mo Salah — and world’s most expensive defender — Virgil van Dijk — were on the bench for Liverpool, but most of its other big names played.

And it was the hosts who had the better of the chances, with Sadio Mane — the scorer of a hat trick in the first leg — hooking a volley over the bar and then striking a low shot against the post in a low-key first half.

Roberto Firmino ran clear but ended up having a shot blocked on the hour, before immediately being taken off by Klopp as Liverpool’s main striker was protected ahead of the United game. AP