Benzema hat-trick inspires Real Madrid comeback win over PSG

Karim Benzema scored a quickfire hat-trick as Real Madrid fought back to beat Paris St Germain 3-1 on Wednesday and move into the Champions League quarter-finals 3-2 on aggregate.

Kylian Mbappe struck before halftime to put the French side 2-0 up in the last-16 tie and they had chances to extend their lead.

Benzema equalised in the 61st minute following a bad error from PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarrumma.

Roared on by a sold-out crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, Benzema scored again in the 76th minute from Luka Modric’s pass and the France striker grabbed his third two minutes later to send the record 13-times European champions into the last eight.

Man City sail through to last eight after Sporting stalemate

Manchester City sailed through to the Champions League quarter-finals after they played out a 0-0 draw against Sporting in their last-16 second leg on Wednesday, progressing 5-0 on aggregate.

City had already done the hard work in their thrashing of the Portuguese side in the first leg three weeks ago in Lisbon, and could take it easy against an inferior Sporting at the Etihad Stadium.

Coach Pep Guardiola could afford to make several changes to his starting team, with one of those players coming in – Raheem Sterling – going closest to scoring in the first half after his close-range effort was saved.

Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, making his first Champions League start of the season, did have the ball in the net early in the second half, but his clever finish was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Paulinho almost earned Sporting victory late on, but it was not to be as City held on in cruise control to progress.