MADRID, March 7, 2018 (News agencies) - The defending champions Real Madrid eased into the Champions League quarter-finals with a comfortable 5-2 aggregate victory over Paris Saint-Germain late on Tuesday. Real had too much nous for PSG at the Parc des Princes. They may be struggling in La Liga but they will go into the quarter-finals fancying their chances of winning this competition for the third year in a row. Although the PSG keeper Alphonse Areola made two fine first-half saves to deny Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema, he was powerless to stop Real taking the lead through a towering header from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 51st minute. PSG desperately missed their injured talisman Neymar and were reduced to 10 men in the 66th minute when Marco Verratti received a second yellow card for dissent. Edinson Cavani's fortunate goal brought PSG level, but Real – who hit the post three times in the second half - clinched a deserved victory on the night with a deflected shot from Casemiro. Meanwhile, Real Madrid's manager, Zinedine Zidane said after the match that Gareth Bale remains a ‘very important' player for the team. The Welshman, 28, started on the bench as Los Blancos dispatched a Neymar-less Paris Saint-Germain 2-1 on Tuesday night. And although he came on with 14 minutes of the match left, he continues to be linked with a move back to the Premier League. Zidane said after the match: "The most important thing is the squad and the players. I respect all the players - Gareth Bale too. Liverpool through to quarters Liverpool completed the formalities of their progress to the Champions League quarter finals with an uneventful 0-0 draw at home to FC Porto. The Reds came into the clash with what was pretty much an unassailable 5-0 lead from the first-leg in Portugal and rarely looked troubled. Sadio Mane, who plundered a hat-trick at the Estadio do Dragao, went closest to breaking the deadlock with a shot that cannoned back off the post in the first half. Jurgen Klopp had named a strong starting XI despite having one eye on Saturday's Premier League showdown at Manchester United, but did leave top scorer Mohamed Salah on the bench until the final 17 minutes. The Merseysiders will now look forward to the draw for the last eight on Friday March 16.
