Ronaldo does it again as Real Madrid dump PSG out of Europe

– Di Maria flops –

Without Neymar, this was Angel Di Maria’s big chance to shine after he was left on the bench for the entirety of the first leg, but nothing came off for the Argentine against his former side, his performance symbolic of a wider malaise in the home ranks.

They had only made Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas work once in the first half, from Kylian Mbappe’s shot in the 43rd minute.

In contrast, Alphonse Areola had kept the home side in the game with two fine saves to deny Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema before the interval.

That just delayed the inevitable. Having come close with a header moments earlier, Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 51st minute, heading in a Lucas Vazquez cross for his third goal in the tie.

? High fives all round in our dressing room after tonight’s win! See how the team celebrated at the Parc des Princes!#APorLa13 | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/U0EuRn6FIU

— Real Madrid C.F.???? (@realmadriden) March 6, 2018

The goal had come from an error by Dani Alves initially, and it completely punctured PSG and the atmosphere.

The tie had escaped them before Verratti was sent off midway through the second half, picking up a second yellow card for dissent.

Substitute Javier Pastore’s header deflected into the net off Cavani in the 71st minute to level the scores on the night, but more poor defending allowed Real to make it 2-1 with 10 minutes left.

Unable to clear their lines in their own area, PSG saw Casemiro’s shot go in via a Marquinhos deflection.

With Marco Asensio and Isco both hitting the post in the second half for Real, the visitors more than deserved their win on the night, as well as in the tie.

That rubbed more salt into the wounds for PSG, who had not lost any of their previous 51 home games in all competitions, a run going back two years to before the start of Unai Emery’s reign as coach.

This defeat is likely to hasten the end of his time in charge.