However, Los Blancos proved at the Bernabeu that they should never be written off. From that point on, Madrid looked risky, and turned their improved play into two goals. And sometimes, history has an impact in these ties.
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Adrien Rabiot got the Parisians on the board first, but Real Madrid came away 3-1 victors thanks to a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and a late goal from Marcelo.
And ultimately, that is exactly what happened.
The pressure on him is huge, with PSG’s owners unlikely to look kindly on a second consecutive exit at this stage of the Champions League given the extent of their investment at the start of this season.
Zidane, whose Madrid are 17 points adrift of LaLiga leaders Barcelona in their faltering title defence, added: “This club has won 12 European Cups and the players know how important it is”.
Madrid were in trouble.
PSG coach Unai Emery turned his fire on Italian referee Gianluca Rocchi after the defeat but said his side could still turn the tie around back in the French capital. The truth is that the lack of competitive games in France hinders them.
The 22-year-old French global midfielder was vast throughout with his first Champions League goal of the season the icing on the cake of a high-calibre display.
After that, it looked like it would finish all square as the second half became more and more cagey.
Despite Madrid’s two-goal advantage, Zidane insisted he is taking nothing for granted ahead of the return fixture on March 6.
They had a number of chances but Ronaldo popped up again with seven minutes to go.
Zidane made his first adjustment 20 minutes before time, bringing on Gareth Bale in place of Karim Benzema.
However, Ronaldo may not be alone in that feat for long. It was not the ideal result, but given the circumstances of the night, it was a dream scenario for Real.
“There was the penalty against us, the penalty that we should have had because of Sergio Ramos’ handball, the yellow cards that we were shown”.
But Madrid had earned that good fortune.
PSG had hoped the major summer acquisitions of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe could help them to a first Champions League title having been eliminated in stunning fashion by Barcelona a year ago. “Near the end we made a few changes because PSG couldn’t hold on for 90 minutes”.
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Ronaldo put Real in front in the 83rd minute with a scrappy strike from close range, following a cross by Marco Asensio, who made an impressive cameo appearance off the bench.
