FRENCH BLISS FOR RONALDO
CRISTIANO RONALDO’S remarkable Champions League scoring streak carried Real Madrid into the quarter-finals as Paris Saint-Germain flopped without Neymar.
And the Qatar-owned French club will now seek a high-profile replacement for coach Unai Emery to bring European success next season.
Leading 3-1 from the first leg, where Ronaldo scored twice, the Portugal superstar settled this tie with a 51st-minute header from a Lucas Vazquez cross.
The former Manchester United star equalled Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s record of scoring in nine consecutive Champions League games – and has 12 in eight matches this term.
After a relatively slow start to the season, by his exalted standards, Ronaldo has now found the net 11 times in his last six games in all competitions.
PSG, who were missing Brazilian Neymar after foot surgery, never threatened to knock out the defending champions. Too timid in the first half, the Ligue 1 leaders needed two fine saves by keeper Alphonse Areola from Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema to keep them in the tie, before Ronaldo struck.
After the 66thminute dismissal of Marco Verratti for dissent, Marco Asensio hit the post, before Edinson Cavani briefly gave PSG hope when he netted his seventh Champions League goal this season after 71 minutes.
Angel Di Maria’s cross was headed back across goal by Thiago Silva, and ‘El Matador’ (squaring up to Casemiro, below) headed home. But any hopes of a fightback ended nine minutes later, when Casemiro’s shot was deflected by Marquinhos and past Areola, to see Real reach the last eight for an eighth successive year.
For all PSG’s lavish spending – £166m Kylian Mbappe was another disappointment – they have again failed to make an impact in the Champions League, after their 6-1 humiliation to Barcelona at this stage last year.
Emery won three successive Europa League titles with Sevilla, but the Spaniard is out of contract in the summer, and big names like Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini – or even Arsene Wenger – will be possibles to fill the role next season.
Gareth Bale came off the bench after 76 minutes and provided a low cross for Vazquez and Areola deflected his shot onto the post.
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