PSG 1 Real Madrid 0
Suddenly, there was Kylian Mbappé. With 45 seconds left, at last he found a way through and the solution that PSG had sought all night. Dashing between Lucas Vázquez and Éder Militão he dropped the shoulder and slotted a superb shot into the net to secure a victory that had appeared set to evade them, this place erupting. They had waited all night for this but it had been worth it, and the win had been deserved. It took 22 shots, including a penalty that Messi saw saved by Thibaut Courtois, but they had finally done it. And it had to be him, the man who had started it all ending it too.
The first glimpse of Mbappé came with a smooth, swift turn away from Casemiro inside the opening minute that set the tone. If Casemiro was more successful in the very next minute when he slid in on Messi and swept the ball from the Argentinian’s feet, it would return there often as PSG took a control that was overwhelming at times. Messi was dropping deep, as willing to play the first pass as the last pass; Marco Verratti and Leandro Paredes kept the ball moving; and Ángel Di María was all over the place.
Mbappé prowled the left side, where Dani Carvajal was isolated and from where PSG created the chance that should have given them the lead. Messi spread it wide to Mbappé and his cross was fast, low and accurate – but from the edge of the six-yard box, Di María sent a shot high over the bar. Madrid could find no way out. One dash forward just before the half-hour was virtually the first time they had got into PSG’s half and their first effort on goal, a Militão header, was the last touch of the opening 45 minutes.
The good news for Carlo Ancelotti’s team was that while Mbappé scared them, the threat palpable every time he accelerated, there were few clear chances and the home side’s momentum slipped, everyone settling into a slower pace. PSG’s possession was up at 70 per cent on 30 minutes but had started to decline, as had their incision.
The best chance PSG made came from a wonderful ball that Messi dropped behind the Madrid defence, with the ball sitting up for Mbappé. However with Carvajal giving him a push in the back, Mbappé couldn’t get a clean contact and Courtois made a save. From the corner, he dived to deny PSG again. As the game went on, that felt increasingly like an opportunity lost.
Casemiro received a yellow card that means he will miss the second leg and he might have received another booking for reaching at the neck of Paredes, but by the break that was the extent of the damage. Courtois ensured there wasn’t more when he produced another of his now statutory miracles, diving low to his right to save from Mbappé.
PSG began the second half determined to increase the pressure and ensure that their opportunity would not be wasted. Next it was Militão charging down an Mbappé shot as Ferland Mendy was caught inside his own area, Achraf Hakimi perhaps a little slow to find a target for his pull-back.
Shots from Mbappé and Messi were simpler to save, but PSG were pushing now, Madrid forced further back, right into their area. From there, Militão blocked Messi as he moved into that shooting position. If that was familiar so was the position from which Mbappé won a penalty, taken out by Carvajal.
The defender’s dive was despairing, his goalkeeper’s superb, Courtois flying left to save Messi’s weak spot-kick. This was 15 PSG shots now to Madrid’s two, but still the ball wouldn’t go in and there was a flash of desperation when Messi took a shot off Paredes’s foot a moment later.
Something had to change and so, to a roar, on came Neymar. Immediately he dribbled round the referee and towards the Madrid area, where he was dumped on the turf. Messi bent the resulting free-kick wide. A moment later those two combined superbly, Messi’s clipped ball just evading Mbappé from close range. Then Mbappé curled past the far post.
There was a lull, almost as if they knew the moment had been lost, but the Parc de Princes rose again when Messi dribbled through with five minutes to go and slipping the ball through to Neymar. With Courtois coming out to him, Neymar clipped over him and beyond the teammates charging into the area. Mbappé headed towards the same gap in the last minute going all the way to the byline, right by the post, and pulling across the six-yard box, where there was no one to provide the final touch. It had been that kind of night, or so it seemed.
Somehow Madrid were still standing, bringing it all back to the Bernabéu for another go, when in the 94th minute Mbappé went on one last run.
