Zinedine Zidane’s Real Madrid replicated the 3-1 home scoreline exacted by Jupp Heynckes’s Bayern Munich over Unai Emery’s Paris Saint-Germain at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace in the fifth and 83rd minutes and Marcelo Vieira added some 86th minute insurance following Adrien Rabiot’s 33rd minute strike.
1-3 – The only previous 1-3 defeat of Paris in an away first leg of an European game was back in March 1993 against… Real Madrid. Paris qualified in the second leg with a 4-1 win. Sign.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 14, 2018
Here is the problem with that: Real Madrid risk a massive comeback, a remontada, a Reviens Plus Grand, or bigger comeback, in the second leg at Le Parc des Princes in March. In that comeback, PSG were coasting to a 4-0 lead before losing the second leg 6-1. As the masters of European and international club football, Real Madrid have the skills and composure to not let history repeat itself.
33% – 4 of the 12 teams to have lost the first leg 1-3 away from home in the Champions League have qualified after the second leg. Hope.
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) February 14, 2018
But it’s a 3-1 lead for Real, not a 4-0 lead. This time, it’s Paris’s turn to be inspired by Barcelona’s home result last year and it will be up to Neymar to lead the way, like he did with his old club. It’s a manageable deficit that PSG can turn around when they are on song. A 4-0 win or a 6-1 win at home will clinch the tie. Real do not need to win the second leg, but they must manage it, as any draw or one-goal loss will be enough for Real Madrid to moonwalk their way into the quarterfinals. According to Eduoard Chevalier of PSG.fr, 33% of teams who lost a first leg 3-1 have advanced. But that is a significant minority that, without surprise, falls into the hands of Real.
100 – Cristiano Ronaldo is the first player in #UCL history to score 100 goals for the same club. Love. pic.twitter.com/LgpeBVYSTV
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) February 14, 2018
The second leg is scheduled for March 6, 2018 (kickoff time: 11:45 a.m. PT/2:45 p.m. ET) and a trio of home ties prior, including two key games against rivals Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1 (Feb. 25) and the Coupe de France (Feb. 28) will be massive warmup contests ahead of a showdown that will make or break Unai Emery’s future with PSG, which already is very bleak, the case being made with stories of player discord and a lack of control across the board. This will boil to a head come the ides of March. By the end of that month, which wraps up with the Coupe de La Ligue final against AS Monaco, the whole world will have a clear view of the truth regarding PSG’s ambitious project.
Keep it here on The Stoppage Time, powered by Azteca Soccer, for all of your soccer news. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
