Real Madrid 2 Benfica 1 (3-1)
A shaky night for Real at the Bernabeu. This was an eye-opening game for me when it comes to Real Madrid this season, to be honest I thought Real would be pretty comfortable in getting over the line in this one but it was anything but especially in the first half. Benfica opened the scoring after a really open start to the match as Raul Asencio’s clearance was saved by Courtois but the ball fell to Rafa Silva who scored to bring the tie level on aggregate in the 14th minute. Real looked really shaky especially on the left-hand-side were Benfica were getting joy but it didn’t take long for Real to pull in front as Valverde pulled the ball back to Tchouameni who fired home from the edge of the box in the 16th minute as Real went back in front in the tie. The game continued to be pretty open as Benfica created a number of chances throughout the 90 minutes but couldn’t get level again as their lack of quality in front of goal was shown for everyone to see. As Benfica pushed for the equaliser spaces started to open which left Vini one on one with Otamendi which ended in disaster for Benfica as Vini raced through and put the tie to bed with a calm side foot finish past Trubin in the 80th minute.
Disappointed with Real Madrid on the night. There were parts of the game tonight were Real were so so poor especially going forward, Vini was largely anonymous for most of the game but came alive late on to settle the tie which Real needed as Benfica really should have scored more than one on the night. If Real want any chance of progressing far in the competition this season they need players back soon with the likes of Mbappe, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Militao etc all missing the game tonight through suspension or injury. A top quality team would have ripped Real apart tonight as they left a ridiculous amount of space down Alvaro Carreras’ side for some reason. If they draw City in the next round it could be a bloodbath if they don’t recover players especially with the second leg taking place at the Etihad if they were drawn together.
Benfica will be kicking themselves for these two games. Benfica really weren’t a million miles away from giving Real Madrid some real worries in this tie over the two games. Realistically they had to get at least a 1 goal lead to bring to the Bernabeu tonight if they wanted to go through but having gone in front early they just had to steady the ship until at least half-time to try and quieten down the Real crowd. I’ve got to say I’ve been bitterly disappointed with how Vangelis Pavlidis has performed over these two games having very little impact when he’s supposed to be Benfica’s best player, we saw just how potent he can be against Barcelona last season so it’s disappointing to see him perform so poorly against a below par Real Madrid side, what could have been for Benfica if they just that little better going forward?
Vinicius Junior has his say. Everyone has had their say on the ‘alleged’ racism Vini received last week and I say alleged because I suppose we’ll never know exactly what Gianluca Prestianni said but UEFA gave him a suspension for this game anyway as it could have descended into chaos if he was allowed to play after what happened last week. Vini was largely quiet throughout the game with Benfica’s right-back Amar Dedic having a very solid game keeping Vini to very little until right at the end when Benfica needed their goal to get back in front on the night, Dedic was caught up the pitch with only Otamendi back who got blitzed for pace as Vini raced through to put the tie to bed. If Real Madrid want any chance of going far in the Champions League this season they are going to need him at his best along with Mbappe in these big knockout games to come in the next few months.
Man City or Sporting Lisbon next for Real Madrid. It feels like we’ve seen Real Madrid vs Man City in the Champions League for the last 100 years but I’d be excited to see it again in the knockouts after they played each other at the Bernabeu a couple of months ago in the league phase were City won pretty comfortably in the end. Of course Real Madrid would prefer Sporting in the next round who have performed surprisingly well in the league phase this season finishing in the top 8, another trip to Portugal on the cards for Real Madrid or is it going to be another tie against Man City for the European giants? We’ll find out on Friday.