Vinícius Júnior was on the scoresheet as Real Madrid progressed through to the Champions League round-of-16 with a 2-1 victory at home to Benfica in the second leg of their knockout play-off at the Estadio Bernabéu.
The controversy which surrounded Madrid’s 1-0 win in Lisbon last Tuesday was very much evident ahead of kick-off, with UEFA confirming just hours before that Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni would be suspended for his side’s visit to the Bernabéu. UEFA had announced on Monday that the Argentine, who allegedly racially abused Vinícius after the Brazilian netted the only goal of the contest in the first leg, would serve a provisional one-match suspension that ruled him out of the return fixture.
Prestianni participated in training with his teammates on Tuesday while Benfica appealed the decision, but the original verdict was confirmed earlier on Wednesday by UEFA’s Appeals Body. The decision to suspend Prestianni added an extra layer of spiciness on a night which had already promised plenty of hostility, and the Benfica fans inside the Bernabéu ensured that their feelings were known.
Roared on by a raucous away support, the Portuguese side, without their head coach José Mourinho who was dismissed in the closing stages of last week’s encounter, settled quickly, and were rewarded for their impressive start inside thirteen minutes. Vangelis Pavlidis crept in behind the Real backline and played a square ball across the box which Raúl Asencio attempted to intercept. However, he was only able to rebound his sliding clearance off of Thibaut Courtois, with the loose ball falling kindly for Rafa Silva to finish from two yards out and level the tie on aggregate.
However, Los Merengues restored their advantage just three minutes later, making it 1-1 on the night as Aurélien Tchouaméni scored his first ever Champions League goal, caressing the ball into the bottom corner after being found on the edge of the box by a Federico Valverde cutback.
The hosts thought they had scored their second goal of the night shortly after the half-hour mark, as Arda Güler tapped home from close range on his birthday. The Turk’s celebrations were to be cut short after a VAR review, however, which deemed that Gonzalo García – whose blocked shot rebounded into Arda’s path – was in an offside position.
A Madrid side without several of their major attacking threats, including Champions League top scorer Kylian Mbappé, Jude Bellingham and Rodrygo, continued pressing in search of a goal that would put them in complete control of the tie, and emerged after the break with a clear motive. Trent Alexander-Arnold was particularly lively, picking out Valverde in the centre of the box with a cross that the Uruguayan failed to make clean contact with, before going inches away himself with a low shot that whistled past Anatoliy Trubin’s far post.
Having absorbed plenty of Real pressure during the early stages of the second half, the visitors displayed resilience to stand firm and increasingly began to pose problems for the Spanish side’s defence. On the hour mark, a trivela effort by Rafa deflected off the boot of Asencio and rattled Courtois’ crossbar, while a thumping Pavlidis shot from outside of the box was carried wide by a valiant Antonio Rüdiger block less than ten minutes later.
In search of a goal that would keep them in the competition, Benfica began to commit more players further forwards, which left them increasingly exposed in defence. The space left in behind the Portuguese team’s backline was ruthlessly exploited by Vinícius and Real Madrid in the 80th minute, as the Brazilian netted his sixth goal in five matches in all competitions. Valverde picked up his second assist of the evening, winning a midfield duel before setting Madrid’s number 7 in behind. Vinícius did the rest, displaying explosive pace to burst away from Nicolás Otamendi, before coolly slotting past Trubin to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory.
It marked a positive end to what has been a turbulent week for Vinícius, whose every touch at the Bernabéu was greeted with jeers and boos by the Benfica support. The winger once again showed his mental strength and character to silence the away fans and produce yet another impressive performance in a critical game for Los Merengues.
Álvaro Arbeloa’s men now eagerly await Friday’s draw, where they will learn their path for the rest of the Champions League knockout stages and discover their last-16 opponents, with Madrid set to face either Sporting CP or Manchester City.
Match Officials: Referee: Slavko Vincic; Video Assistant Referee:Christian Dingert; Assistant Referee 1: Tomasz Klancnik; Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovacic; Fourth Official: David Smajc; Assistant VAR Official: Daniele Chiffi
Real Madrid Lineup: Courtois; Alexander-Arnold, Asencio (subbed for Mastantuono, 77’), Rüdiger, Carreras (subbed for Fran García, 90’); Valverde, Güler (subbed for Palacios, 84’), Tchouaméni, Camavinga (subbed for Alaba, 77’); Gonzalo (subbed for Pitarch, 84’), Vinícius
Benfica Lineup: Trubin; Dedic, Tomás Araújo, Otamendi, Dahl; Barreiro (subbed for Cabral, 90’), Aursnes (subbed for Barrenechea, 85’); Ríos, Rafa, Schjelderup (subbed for Ivanović, 85’); Pavlidis