Real Madrid 3-1 (3-2 agg.) PSG: Karim Benzema the hat-trick hero

The victory saw Madrid erase a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Paris, but it still required a storybook finish. Kylian Mbappe scored late in the first half of Wednesday's match to put PSG ahead by two goals on aggregate, and up until the hour mark, it appeared as though the Parisians would ease through the game and grab the quarterfinal berth.

Instead, it was Benzema to the rescue as the Frenchman struck three times in the final half-hour. His first came off an error by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who coughed up the ball under pressure and could only watch as Vinicius Jr. and Benzema combined to pounce on the mistake and slot the ball into the net in the 61st minute.

Fifteen minutes later, Benzema finished a counterattack with Luca Modric stealing the ball deep within the Madrid half and charging downfield before passing to Vinicius. The Brazilian collected inside the PSG penalty area and gave the ball back to Modric, who slipped a pass in behind for an awaiting Benzema. The 34-year-old quickly took a shot that deflected off a lunging Marquinhos, allowing the ball to carom over Donnarumma.

The in-stadium announcement for Madrid's go-ahead goal at the Santiago Bernabeu had barely even finished when Benzema struck again. The kickoff went disastrously for the visitors as they turned the ball over immediately and allowed Vinicius to carry it into their penalty area, leading to an ill-advised clearance attempt by Marquinhos that fell right to the feet of Benzema for a quick flick past Donnarumma and his third goal of the night.

Benzema's 17-minute hat trick stunned PSG, which had no answers for the complete shift in momentum. Instead, Madrid rode the wave of appreciation from the crowd for the rest of the match, locking down the result and earning a place in the quarterfinals.