WATCH: Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro Bury PSG for Real Madrid in Champions League
PSG entered this season with heightened expectations in the Champions League, but the French power wound up matching last season's disappointing result.
PSG failed to overcome a two-goal deficit to Real Madrid in the second leg of their round-of-16 series on Tuesday, losing 2-1 on the day and 5-2 on aggregate with Neymar watching from the sidelines with a fracture in his foot.
Cristiano Ronaldo delivered the dagger for PSG in the 51st minute, and even though Edinson Cavani pulled one back late after Marco Verratti was sent off, Casemiro finished off the series with a goal of his own to keep Real's three-peat hopes alive.
PSG, buoyed by a boisterous crowd at the Parc des Princes, started on the front foot, pressuring Real Madrid and delivering a series of crosses into the area, only for Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane to deal with them with relative ease.
Real Madrid, which wasn't desperate for goals, didn't do much with the ball in the opening 10 minutes, though Marco Asensio's deflected cross from the left forced PSG goalkeeper Alphonse Areola into making a catch while backing into his own net.
Real Madrid nearly struck in the 18th minute through Ramos, with Areola denying his point-blank redirect off a designed short corner set piece.
Areola made another massive save in the 38th minute, when Karim Benzema took advantage of a mistake to have all the space in the world on the left channel. He got low and blocked Benzema's chance on the breakaway, forcing it into the side netting to keep PSG from going in a deeper hole.
PSG finally challenged Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas in the 41st minute through Neymar's replacement, Angel Di Maria. The Argentine star took a pass from Verratti on the right channel, forcing Navas into the save, which he made with relative ease on the close-range attempt.
Navas made another save moments later off a chance from Kylian Mbappe, who appeared offside when he broke free down the right and appeared to have Edinson Cavani wide open in the center of the box had he elected to cross.
Real Madrid relieved any of the pressure it was facing soon after the second half began. It was Ronaldo doing the damage yet again, with his header at the far post silencing the flare-happy crowd in Paris in the 51st minute. Marco Asensio and Lucas Vazquez were the architects, with the latter delivering the cross to Ronaldo. For the Portuguese star, it marked the ninth straight Champions League game in which he has scored.
Things got worse for PSG soon after. Verratti, already on a yellow card, lost his cool after thinking a foul should have been called, and he was given a second yellow for dissent, getting his marching orders from referee Felix Brych in the 66th minute.
PSG managed to pull one back five minutes after it went down to 10 men. Cavani got the final touch after Javier Pastore's header hit off a pair of players, with the Uruguayan getting the fortuitous final touch. It meant that PSG needed two more goals in the final 20-plus minutes to force extra time.
All of that remaining hope went out the window in the 80th minute. Casemiro was the beneficiary, as a clearance fell to him in the center of the box, and his ensuing shot took a deflection that left Areola with no chance, making it 5-2 on aggregate and 2-1 on the day in Madrid's favor.
Here were the starting lineups for both teams:
The quarterfinal draw for the Champions League is set for March 16, with no restrictions on which teams can be paired together.
