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Real Madrid beat Benfica 2-1 in the Champions League on a night when Vinicius Junior scored the winning goal, advancing to the last 16 with a 3-1 aggregate win.
The Brazilian forward’s stunning goal divided the teams in a first leg marred by allegations of racial abuse by Benfica coach Gianluca Prestiani. However, he denies the suspicion.
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Jose Mourinho’s side are still in the play-off round and took an early lead against Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday through Rafa Silva’s goal, but Madrid’s Aurelien Choameni quickly equalized.
Benfica gave the 15-time champions a tough time, but Vinicius, never one to hide from the spotlight, scored in the 80th minute to effectively put an end to the match.
It was Portuguese manager Mourinho’s first return to the Santiago Bernabéu since managing Real Madrid from 2010 to 2013, but he was unable to lead the team from the dugout due to suspension.
After a troubled week in the aftermath of the first leg, Vinicius lined up at Real Madrid alongside Gonzalo García, who replaced injured French superstar Kylian Mbappé.
Benfica had not suspended midfielder Prestiani, but UEFA was investigating the incident after an appeal against his provisional one-match penalty was rejected earlier on Wednesday.
Madrid held a large banner reading “No to Racism” at one end, and the match was played in the shadow of last week’s events in Lisbon.
Vinicius was booed by the visiting Benfica fans, and Vinicius lunged wide early on, but after his shot was missed, Nicolas Otamendi made contact and called for a penalty in vain.
Benfica took a deserved lead in the 14th minute when Madrid defender Raul Asensio clumsily fired the ball into their own goal.
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois blocked the ball, but Silva scored from close range.
Madrid, riding on the momentum, equalized two minutes later with a goal from Choameni. The French midfielder calmly converted a cross from rampaging teammate Federico Valverde from the edge of the box.
Madrid thought they had won that night when Arda Güller slotted home a loose ball after Garcia’s shot was blocked, but the Spanish striker was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed after a VAR review.
Courtois made a fine save from Richard Ríos before the break as Benfica increased the pressure.
Mourinho’s side were pushing their opponents at times, and just before the hour mark Silva’s deflected shot hit the bar.
Madrid suffered a reversal when Asensio collided with Eduardo Camavinga and was taken away on a stretcher.
However, it was Vinicius who equalized the score, and Valverde made sure he got out in front of goal, and the Brazilian calmly fired a low shot past goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin.
Vinicius did another celebratory dance by the corner flag, much to Mourinho’s chagrin, as he did in the first leg of the close encounter with Prestiani.
This time, the 25-year-old had thousands of jubilant fans jumping in front of him as his goal sealed Madrid’s place in the last 16.
PSG, Atalanta and Galatasaray advance
In another match on Wednesday, Turkish giants Galatasaray defeated Juventus in extra time in Turin.
The home side took a 3-0 lead and brought the game back to 5-5 on aggregate, but could not complete the comeback as Galatasaray scored two goals in extra time from Viktor Osimhen and Baris Alper Yilmaz to qualify for the next round.
A controversial stoppage-time penalty saw Atalanta dramatically send Borussia Dortmund out, as the Italians overturned a first-leg deficit to reach the last 16.
The Germans are favorites to win after winning 2-0 at home last week. However, Gianluca Scamacca, Davide Zappacosta and Mario Pašić were unable to deal with either Atalanta’s momentum or their own weaknesses, giving the hosts a 3-0 lead.
After Karim Adeyemi’s brilliant equalizer, Dortmund teammate and overnight fall guy Ramy Bensebaini was adjudged to have conceded a spot kick when he cleared the ball, Lazar Samardzic scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
The Italians won 4-1 on the night, 4-3 on aggregate, leaving Dortmund angry with themselves and the match officials.
This means a matchup between the German teams in the last 16 in Friday’s draw is no longer a certainty, with Bayern Munich facing either Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen, who beat Olympiakos Piraeus in Tuesday’s play-off.
PSG led 3-2 in the first leg in Monaco, but were left behind by their Ligue 1 rivals at the Parc des Princes as Magnes Akuriosh was given too much time to score.
Mamadou Koulibaly’s two immediate bookings in this period opened the door for PSG, and veteran captain Marquinhos immediately stepped into action.
Hviča Kvaratschelia and Jourdan Teze exchanged goals to make it 2-2 and the holders won 5-4 on aggregate, setting up a mouth-watering last-16 clash with either Barcelona or Chelsea.
