Just as PSG seemed to go into cruise control in its Champions League round-of-16 second leg vs. Real Madrid, Karim Benzema lit up Europe’s biggest stage like a flash of lightning.
With Real Madrid down 2–0 on aggregate with 30 minutes left, the French forward scored a second-half hat trick in 17 minutes to complete an epic comeback for his club and send PSG crashing out of the Champions League in the first knockout round.
In the first leg, Kylian Mbappé’s dramatic winner for PSG proved to be the difference, and the French superstar added another for good measure in the 39th minute. But Benzema would take over, starting in the 61st minute before adding a second in the 76th and a third just two minutes later.
