Ligue 1's Paris Saint Germain has something of a history with Spain's top two teams. Ever since their ascendancy to the ranks of being a canonical "big club", they have a knack of dominating at the Parc Des Princes and then either squeezing through or completely blowing it at the Camp Neu. The most famous example comes from the 2016/17 season, in which an astounding 4-0 home victory against Barcelona was rendered useless by the significantly more astounding 6-1 loss away. With Real Madrid, they have been less fortunate as every encounter over two legs ended in defeat. It's as if the footballing gods were telling the French champions to know their place.

And then on September 19, 2019 it looked as if Real were going Barca's way as PSG routed them 3-0 at the Parc Des Princes. Two possible narratives sprung forth: Real Madrid, lacking Ronaldo and undergoing a course correction from returning manager Zinedine Zidane, were caught off guard by European football's band of mercenaries. The other was more troubling: PSG are actually a very good side now.

From the opening whistle Mauro Icardi in the center and Kylian Mbappe and Idrissa Gueye on the right flank dominated possession in the Bernebeu, with the latter making the most of their freedom against Marcelo and Sergio Ramos - who seemed to be a bigger foul hunter today than usual - to create most of the early chances.

Yet, it wasn't to be their way as Madrid's pile-on offence, in which seemingly everyone besides for the back four crowds into the box, paid off in the 17th minute as Isco converted a cross from Francisco Valderde into a shot that bounced off the post and into the path of a waiting Karim Benzema. It wasn't a convincing lead, but it was a Real Madrid lead - normal service had been resumed.

For the rest of the half, Real had PSG pinned in their own half and everyone from Benzema, in search of a solo follow up, to defender Marcelo to midfield metronome Toni Kroos has a crack at goal; if it wasn't for Angel Di Maria forcing keeper Thibaut Courtois to save the exact lopping goal he conceded in their prior game, it would have been complete one way traffic. PSG manager Thomas Tuchel seemed to have accepted that, even though Real lacked Ronaldo, he was still playing in Spain and conceded defeat. No longer playing fast paced, attacking football, his PSG were hunkered down and reliant on the pace of Mbappe and Gueye to try and break through Real's entire squad and look for an equalizer.

Not even a game as clearcut as this can avoid being marred by VAR controversy. Just prior to half time, Courtois brought down Icardi in the box and was sent off with a straight red… only for the decision to be reversed minutes later as Gueye had fouled Marcelo during the attack rendering the whole thing void, casting a pall over the evening.

The second half began with a major substitution for PSG: Gueye off for Neymar, who had started the game on the bench. He didn't make any difference; Keylor Navas - remember him? - remained the only thing preventing another Real goal. In the 69th minute, Zidane brought Bale on in place of Eden Hazard, a gesture that shows he still has faith in the Welshman regardless of if the Welshman has faith in him or not.

With only 15 minutes left, Tuchel switched up his tactics, replacing strikers (Di Maria, Icardi) with midfielders (Julian Draxler, Paolo Sarabia) and was instantly punished as Benzema did find that solo goal with a close range header. Madrid win again. The game was over, or so Courtois thought. That's the only explanation for missing a simple cross from Raphael Varane; it passed directly underneath him letting Mbappe tap it in for 2-1, keeping the game alive.

Real were shell-shocked. Play resumed and it was back to the opening minutes, PSG, 2-0 down in the 79th minute, were resurgent and stormed the goal. Juan Bernat, directly in front of goal took a chance, had it deflected directly into the path of Sarabia who curled it perfectly into the near post in the 82nd minute. Courtois didn't even move. In the blink of an eye a decisive loss became a confident fightback for PSG.

Back and forth it went in the final stretch; Real had more shots, PSG's were more threatening, until in the fourth minute of extra time, it came to a free kick. Bale stood over it knowing this was going to be the final kick of the game. He looked, he took a deep breath, he kicked and imagined the headlines championing him as a hero; it hit the post. 2-2 was the final score, PSG stay top of Group A with Real Madrid in second place. It may have been a draw, but over both legs, PSG came out on top and for Tuchel and his team, that's surely more than enough.