The Spaniards beat Benfica 2-1, the French close at 2-2 with Monaco
In different ways and not without sweating it out, but in the end Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain reach the round of 16. Arbeloa’s team came back to win 2-1, with Tchouameni and Vinicius denying Rafa Silva’s goal. PSG also goes behind against Monaco, the guests are again left with ten men as in the first leg and at that point Luis Enrique’s men take advantage. Teze scores the equalizer at the end and in injury time Monaco also have the ball for extra time but waste it. Real Madrid will face one between Sporting and Manchester City, while PSG will face one between Barcelona and Chelsea.
REAL MADRID-BENFICA 2-1
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We immediately start at high speed at the Bernabeu, with Benfica equalizing the score in the 14th minute: the Portuguese break through on the right, Asencio tries to prevent the ball from reaching the center of the area and launches into a slide, Courtois saves the friendly fire but can do nothing on Rafa Silva’s tap-in. Two turns of the clock and the Spaniards are back ahead in the total calculation, with Tchouameni’s placed shot from the edge served perfectly by Valverde. Shortly after the half hour, Guler’s goal was disallowed, while Rafa Silva hit the crossbar with a delightful outside shot in the 60th minute. In the end, it is always Vinicius who solves it. Valverde launches him on the counterattack, the Brazilian runs away and then aims for the far post, found with a precise diagonal low shot (80′).
PSG-MONACO 2-2
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A bit like in Madrid, Monaco also started with greater courage. Akliouche is a difficult client for the Parisians’ defense and in one of the first attacks he serves a golden ball to Coulibaly, who shoots very high from a few steps (9′). PSG comes out as time passes, but Pocognoli’s team holds on and counters, as happens at the end of the first half. In the 41st minute, in fact, Barcola hits the crossbar. In the 45th minute, Monaco took the lead: a maneuvered move in the area, Bamba gave it up to Akliouche, who put the ball past Safonov perfectly. In the second half the match actually lasted a quarter of an hour, until Coulibaly was sent off for a second yellow card. At that point, the Monegasques leave the pitch and PSG can’t be told twice. In the 60th minute Marquinhos supported Doué’s assist into the net, while in the 66th minute Kvaratskhelia pounced on Hakimi’s shot blocked by Kohn and returned it into the net and the comeback was made. In injury time the Parisians loosened their grip and Monaco equalized through Teze. If Faes headed properly, the sensational 2-3 that would have sent the match to extra time would also have escaped us, but this is not the case.
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