At 4:00 a.m. Beijing time on February 16, the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals ushered in a strong dialogue: Paris Saint-Germain, the favourite to win the championship, hosted The most successful team in the Champions League, Real Madrid.
In Greater Paris, Messi, Mbappe and Di Maria form an attacking trident, with midfielders Verratti, Paredes and Danilo Pereira, four defenders Nuno Mendes, Kimpembe, Marquinhos and Ashraf and goalkeeper Donnarumma. Neymar, who has returned from injury, sits on the bench.
Real Madrid started at the same 433, with Benzema returning from injury forming a forward trident with Vinicius and Asensio, midfielders Kroos, Casemiro and Modric, four defenders F. Mendy, Alaba, Militang, Carvajal and goalkeeper Courtois.
After the match began, Paris, playing at home, went on the offensive. In the 5th minute, Mbappe's cross from the left was met by Di Maria. In the 13th minute, Mbappe crossed Carvajal and was cleared by Modric. In the 17th minute, Messi picked out a pass and Mbappe carried Carvajal's shot that was saved by Courtois. In the 18th minute, a big Paris corner kick, Messi drove into the box, Pereira's header was headed into the goal, and it was confiscated by Courtois. In the 23rd minute, Nuno Mendes' shot was confiscated by Courtois. In the 26th minute, Nuno Mendes' cross was blocked again.
In the 45th minute, a Real Madrid corner kick was sent out and Casemiro's header was deflected off target. At the end of the first half, the passively beaten Real Madrid finally had a decent attack.
In the second half, Paris was still dominant on offense. In the 50th minute, Ashraf crossed and Mbappe's shot was saved by Courtois. In the 53rd minute, Messi's long-range shot from outside the box was confiscated by Courtois.
In the 61st minute, Mbappe created a penalty and was shoveled down by Carvajal in the penalty area, messi came to take the penalty, but was saved by Carvajal.
In the 72nd minute, Neymar came off the bench and replaced Di Maria.
In the 75th minute, Paris received a free kick in front of the penalty area, and Messi took a direct shot at the goal, which was deflected.
In the 77th minute, Messi's clever pass was deflected off goal by Mbappe.
In the 87th minute, Messi instigated the attack and Neymar crossed too high above the sideline.
The 90-minute regular time arrived, the score was still 0:0, the big Paris was invincible, and although Real Madrid was passively beaten most of the time, Courtois was too brave. In full stoppage time, mbappe scored the deadlock in the final moments! Paris beat Real Madrid 1-0 at home.
In the years before leaving Barca, Messi was often dud in the key battle of the Champions League knockout stage, and in this game, the performance of Messi, who conceded a penalty, was also lackluster. If Paris wants to go further in the Champions League, it may have to rely on the young Mbappe.
Yes, Paris 21 shots on goal 8 shots on target, Real Madrid 3 shots 0 shots on target, the possession rate of Paris 57%, Real Madrid 43%, Greater Paris can be described as an absolute advantage. Although it was won in the end, it was certainly not enough to win only one, and if the second leg was still like this, it was not impossible to be overturned by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.