Real Madrid 2-1 Benfica: Tchouameni 17, Vinicius 80; Silva 14
At the start, Real Madrid supporters put up a giant tifo at the Bernabeu reading “No Al Racismo”, no to racism. In the buildup to this game head coach Alvaro Arbeloa had called on Uefa to seize the opportunity and take decisive action after the distasteful events of the first leg a week ago.
The star, and simultaneously the victim, of that day Vinicius Junior fittingly scored the decisive goal here to condemn Benfica to a 2-1 defeat, after the Portuguese side had attempted a comeback with an early goal from Rafa Silva that was cancelled out fairly quickly by Aurelien Tchouameni.
With Madrid flagging in the second half as Benfica pushed for a decisive goal to send the tie into extra time at the very least, Vinicius raced into the visitors’ box on the inside left, opened up his body and then unloaded. Anatoliy Trubin was beaten again, and there was Vinicius running to the corner flag to celebrate, as he had done last week in Portugal.
A defeat for Arbeloa would of course have been unacceptable. Not that Madrid have not performed much worse under the 43-year-old: they crashed out of the Copa del Rey after losing to second-division side Albacete.
But the Champions League is a competition that defines Madrid, the DNA of the club. Crashing out in the playoff stage at home, having started the game with a 1-0 lead, would have been a new low, and certain to ramp up the pressure on Arbeloa.
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— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) February 25, 2026
Yet here Benfica, whose coach Jose Mourinho was in the stands having been suspended in the first leg, were eager for an upset similar to the one they caused in the last round of the league phase. The visitors started well and showed intent when Andreas Schjelderup evade Raul Asencio and tested Thibaut Courtois.
Silva soon made their bright opening count on the scoreboard when he pounced on a rebound to poke home with a less than a quarter of an hour played. Madrid were guilty of lax defending and conceding too much space to Benfica, but they soon made up for it. Federico Valverde bolted down the right and then made a cutback for Tchouameni, who found the bottom right corner.
It was 2-1 on aggregate and Benfica needed a goal. Madrid, sterile in possession and attack to the displeasure of their fans, did manage to get one for themselves after Arda Guler seized on an amateurish mixup between Trubin and Nicolas Otamendi, but VAR ruled Gonzalo Garcia had been offside in the buildup.
The later the game got, the more confident Benfica that they could yet save the tie. The Portuguese side cranked up the pressure but then came that Vinicius goal.
