Eleventh continental pulse: Real Madrid beats PSG 4-3

Today’s is matchup number 11 between Real Madrid and PSG, with a balance favorable to the whites: four wins for three losses and as many draws. Interestingly, Ancelotti was never able to beat the Parisian team, which he coached from 2012 to 2013, and Pochettino did it once: he beat the Whites as Tottenham coach in 2017…

Ten shocks. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have met ten times in official competitions (three two-legged knockout rounds and two group stages), with a balance favorable to the whites, who added four victories, three draws and three defeats. Five of those ten games were held at the Parc des Princes (two local wins, one away win and two draws).

Precedents. Both clubs faced each other in consecutive seasons in the mid-1990s (UEFA Cup 1992-93 and Cup Winners’ Cup 1993-94) and in both cases the Parisian team qualified for the next round. The first of those two qualifiers was especially vibrant (3-1 at the Bernabéu in the first leg and 3-0 in the second leg, until Zamorano scored at 90’+3 to apparently force extra time, but at 90 ‘+6’ PSG scored 4-1 through Kombouaré and thus eliminated the whites).

In Champions. The third direct elimination duel between both teams took place in the Champions League of the 2017-18 season, in the round of 16. On that occasion it was the Spanish team who advanced to the next round after winning both games (3-1 at the Bernabéu, coming back from Rabiot’s initial goal, thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and one from Marcelo, and 1-2 in Paris , with goals from Cristiano, Cavani and Casemiro).

Madrid in France. Real Madrid has played 16 official away games on French soil, in which He has added six wins, three draws and seven losses. PSG have faced Spanish rivals at the Parc des Princes 17 times in the history of continental competitions. The locals added eight wins and six draws, and only gave up three defeats (1-3 against Deportivo in November 2000, 1-3 against Barcelona in April 2015 and 1-2 against Real Madrid in March 2018).

Before French. The real Madrid they have won four of their eight two-legged ties against French rivals. They eliminated Nice twice from the European Cup in the 1956-57 and 1959-60 seasons, once against Lyon in the 2010-11 Champions League and once against PSG in the 2017-18 Champions League. He was eliminated twice by PSG (1992-93 UEFA Cup and 1993-94 Cup Winners’ Cup), once by Monaco (2003-04 Champions League) and once by Lyon (2009-10 Champions League).

PSG against Spaniards. El Paris Saint Germain overcame their first five two-legged qualifiers against Spanish rivals (Real Madrid 1993 and 1994, Barcelona 1995, Deportivo 1996 and Valencia 2013), but he has only been able to repeat success in one of the last five (Barcelona 2021). He was eliminated three times by the Barça club (2013, 2015 and 2017) and once by Madrid (2018). In total, six classifications and four by KO.

Messi in Champions. He is just one goal away from reaching 50 in direct elimination rounds of the Champions League, a figure that, to date, only Cristiano has reached (he has 67). The Argentine, who has scored seven goals with his current club (two in Ligue 1 and five in Europe’s top competition), He has added 26 goals and 14 assists in his 45 official games against Real Madrid (all as a Barcelona player), but he failed to score or assist in the most recent seven (since Cristiano left the white team). In his 17 previous appearances in the Champions League, Messi was only eliminated three times in the round of 16 (Chelsea 2005, Liverpool 2007 and PSG 2021).

Benzema. He is two goals away from equaling Raúl (66) as Real Madrid’s second top scorer in the European Cup. The French striker faced PSG seven times as a Lyon player, racking up four wins, two draws and one loss, but without managing to score a single goal against the Parisian club. As a Real Madrid player he has scored two goals against him in four matches, but he was never able to score a goal for him at the Parc des Princes.

Ancelotti. He has never been able to beat PSG. He lost once as coach of Bayern (3-0) and drew twice as coach of Napoli (2-2 in France and 1-1 in Italy). Between January 2012 and May 2013 he directed the Parisian team in 77 official matches, in which he added 49 wins, 19 draws, nine losses, 153 goals for and 64 against. His only failures at home were against Lyon in the Cup (1-3) and against Saint-Etienne (1-2) and Rennes (1-2) in the League.

Pochettino. He lost his first seven games as coach against Real Madrid without seeing his team (Espanyol) score a single goal (0-2, 0-3, 3-0, 3-0, 0-1, 0- 4 and 5-0). As coach of Tottenham he fared much better against the Merengue team (a 3-1 win in London and a 1-1 draw in Madrid). He has managed PSG in 68 official matches in which he has added 46 wins, 12 draws and ten losses. He has not lost since November 24, 2021 against Manchester City (nine wins and five draws in the 14 games that his team has played since then).