The death of the arrogant

The death of the arrogant.

First leg

Real Madrid: the yellow card Sergio Ramos deliberately took to wipe his slate clean before the quarter-final first leg was just the tip of the iceberg of his arrogance. Ever since Raul — a man of the opposite character — left Real Madrid in 2010, the beast inside Ramos has been loose. He's always clawed for the alpha spot after a few years at the club; he was a major force in pushing Raul and Casillas out. If Ronaldo came to Madrid to set records for players a hundred years from now to chase, Ramos has built the ultimate image of football's dark side — so future generations can recognize it.

Paris Saint-Germain: being named after a saint does not make a team any more saintly. Big players come in and play small matches, which breeds arrogance. It's something Manchester City and Chelsea don't run into in the Premier League. Angel Di Maria left Old Trafford with a silent grudge — a fury that had already been sitting inside him since the day he left Real Madrid. Di Maria was furious that what he had contributed to Real's Champions League title that year had been dismissed. The day he came back to Old Trafford, the man who sold him was gone, so Di Maria poured all his rage onto his former club — a rage that Real Madrid had a big hand in creating.

Second leg

Real Madrid: Perez is an ambitious tyrant. He'll do whatever it takes to make his club take the most prized things from other clubs. Great players, trophies. Perez wants to surpass the legends Alfredo Di Stefano and Santiago Bernabeu. He wants the new stadium Real Madrid will build to carry the name Florentino Perez. But he forgot that the adjective "great" has never sat comfortably next to "tyrant." If Perez is Satan, then Sergio Ramos is his incarnation on the pitch. Ajax won through drive and effort, and taught the arrogant a lesson.

Paris Saint-Germain: the saint was not on the side of the proud. In the 56th minute, when Di Maria's goal was ruled out for offside, I already knew United would win. Di Maria had been shining at Old Trafford on rage, but he forgot that rage is a poisoned fuel. The moment The Angel scored, his first instinct was to taunt the United fans. The look on his face when he realized the goal was disallowed showed every bit of deflation and disappointment. Remember, Ole started the match with two right-backs — nobody knew better than Ole how dangerous a wounded beast is. Di Maria became invisible after that moment. In the 87th minute Ole brought on Mason Greenwood for right-back Ashley Young. United switched to attacking mode. The experience inherited from his mentor told Ole: corner the wounded beast and deliver the killing blow. Scoring in the final minutes both created panic — PSG subbed off Cavani immediately — and left the opponent no time to react. Substitutions that late mean the other side has used up most of their own. The victory was the result of everything, from both PSG and United.