Vinicius Junior scored the winner on the night as Real Madrid beat Benfica 2-1 in the Champions League, progressing 3-1 on aggregate to the last 16.
It was the Brazilian forward’s superb goal which separated the teams in a first leg marred by an incident of alleged racial abuse aimed at him by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, who denies the allegation.
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Jose Mourinho’s side were still alive in the playoff round tie and took the lead early on at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wedmesday through Rafa Silva, although Madrid’s Aurelien Tchouameni swiftly levelled.
Benfica gave the record 15-time champions a rough ride but fittingly Vinicius, who never hides from the spotlight, scored on 80 minutes to effectively end the contest.
It was Portuguese coach Mourinho’s first time back at the Santiago Bernabeu since he coached Real Madrid from 2010-2013, but he could not lead his team from the dug-out because of suspension.
After a week dominated by the fallout from the first leg, Vinicius lined up for Real Madrid alongside Gonzalo Garcia, who stepped in for injured French superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Benfica were without banned midfielder Prestianni, after an appeal against his provisional one-game sanction was turned down earlier on Wednesday, with UEFA still investigating the incident.
Madrid hung a large banner reading “no to racism” at one end, with the game played under the shadow of what happened last week in Lisbon.
There were boos for Vinicius from the visiting Benfica fans and he prodded wide in the early stages, appealing in vain for a penalty as Nicolas Otamendi collided with him after he got his shot away.
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Benfica took a deserved lead in the 14th minute as Madrid defender Raul Asencio clumsily turned the ball towards his own goal.
Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois kept the ball out but Silva was on hand to bundle home from close range.
Stung into action, Madrid pulled level two minutes later through Tchouameni. The French midfielder finished with aplomb from the edge of the box from rampaging teammate Federico Valverde’s cross.
Madrid thought they had gone ahead on the night when Arda Guler stabbed home a loose ball after Garcia’s shot was blocked, but the Spanish striker had edged offside and it was disallowed after a VAR review.
Courtois made a fine save from Richard Rios before the break, as Benfica turned up the pressure.
Silva hit the bar with a deflected effort before the hour mark as Mourinho’s side at times pinned back the hosts.
Madrid were dealt a set-back as Asencio was forced off on a stretcher after colliding with Eduardo Camavinga.
It had to be Vinicius who settled the tie, though, and Valverde played him scuttling through on goal, with the Brazilian calmly rolling a low shot past goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Vinicius produced another celebratory dance by the corner flag, as he had done in the first leg in the run-up to the flashpoint with Prestianni, and to the chagrin of Mourinho.
This time, the 25-year-old just had thousands of jubilant fans jumping up and down before him, and his goal confirmed Madrid’s passage to the last 16.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, Turkish giants Galatasaray knocked out Juventus after extra-time in Turin.
The home side went 3-0 up to bring the game back to 5-5 on aggregate, but they could not complete the comeback as Galatasaray scored two goals in extra-time through Victor Osimhen and Baris Alper Yilmaz to book their place in the next round.
A debatable penalty in stoppage time helped Atalanta dramatically dump Borussia Dortmund out as the Italians overturned a first-leg deficit to march into the last 16.
The Germans were favourites after their 2-0 win at home last week. But they could not cope with Atalanta’s verve or their own frailties as Gianluca Scamacca, Davide Zappacosta and Mario Pasalic put the hosts 3-0 up.
Karim Adeyemi levelled the tie in style before Dortmund teammate Ramy Bensebaini, the fall guy all night, was adjudged to have conceded a spot-kick when clearing the ball and Lazar Samardzic converted eight minutes in stoppage time.
The Italians won 4-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate to leave Dortmund seething at themselves and the match officials.
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It means an all-German last 16 clash is no longer certain in Friday’s draw, with Bayern Munich facing either Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen, who got past Olympiacos Piraeus in their playoff on Tuesday.
PSG were 3-2 up from the first leg in Monaco, but went behind to their Ligue 1 rivals at the Parc des Princes when Maghnes Akliouche was given too much time to score.
Two quick-fire bookings for Mamadou Coulibaly on the hour opened the door for PSG and veteran captain Marquinhos soon tapped in.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Jordan Teze traded goals for 2-2 as the holders’ 5-4 aggregate win set up a mouth-watering last 16 meeting with Barcelona or Chelsea.
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