French striker Karim Benzema made his return from injury in the colours of Real Madrid during the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie with Paris Saint Germain (PSG) earlier in the week. Benzema had been missing for the last three weeks due to a hamstring problem. Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has had to navigate the past few weeks without Karim Benzema after he went off injured during the Spanish La Ligahome clash with Elche last month. He was subbed off for Serbian striker Luka Jovic in the 58^th minute of the Elche game after he picked up the aforementioned hamstring issue.

Real Madrid played second fiddle for the majority of their Champions League last 16 first leg clash with PSG and they had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for keeping the scoreline respectable. Karim Benzema started as the central striker in the Real Madrid attack and he was largely anonymous alongside fellow attackers Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio.

Angel Di Maria is one of theformer Real Madrid players in the PSG team and he had the first real chance of the game, but he could not keep his shot down. KylianMbappe was a thorn in the flesh of the Real Madrid defenders and he could have given PSG a lead at the break if not for the impressive Courtois.

Mbappe continued to cause trouble in the Real Madrid defence in the second half as he won a penalty off right-back Dani Carvajal. The resulting spot kick from Lionel Messi was saved by Courtois. Neymar came off the bench for Di Maria and he added more bite to the DOG attack. Neymar came close off the pass from Messi in the final minutes of the game before he produced a back-heel assist for Mbappe to score the winning goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time. Mbappe somehow dribbled his way past substitute Lucas Vazquez and Eder Militao before slotting home to give PSG a 1-0 win.