Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Real Madrid came from a goal down to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Adrien Rabiot’s away goal had put the Ligue 1 leaders in front in the Champions League last-16 tie, but Ronaldo’s double and Marcelo’s late strike gave the home side the victory.
The clash has been billed as potentially critical to the futures of head coaches Zinedine Zidane and Unai Emery, with both under pressure to deliver the biggest prize in European football this season, but the Madrid boss will be the happier ahead of the return fixture at Parc des Princes.
Madrid, winners of the tournament in three of the last four years, were the stronger side in the opening half-hour but suffered a blow when Rabiot broke the deadlock 33 minutes in.
The visitors had defended well in the absence of captain Thiago Silva, who was benched in favour of Presnel Kimpembe, but Ronaldo made no mistake from the penalty spot to make it 1-1 with his 100th goal in the competition for Madrid.
Ronaldo added a fortunate second before Marcelo struck a third just three minutes later, as the holders secured a valuable first-leg lead ahead of the visit to the French capital on March 6.
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