Benfica v Real Madrid: Eagles stumble, Champions League hopes alive | OneFootball

Benfica kicked off the Champions League playoff on the wrong foot against Real Madrid. On the night of Tuesday, February 17, José Mourinho’s men lost 1-0 at home to the Merengues. Vinícius Jr was the scorer of the lone goal that gave Álvaro Arbeloa’s team the victory. Check out the story of the match.

Anatoliy Trubin, Amar Dedic, Tomás Araújo, Nicolás Otamendi, Samuel Dahl, Fredrik Aursnes, Leandro Barreiro, Gianluca Prestianni, Rafa Silva, Andreas Schjelderup, and Vangelis Pavlidis were José Mourinho’s chosen starting eleven. During the match, the Special One also brought on Richard Ríos, Georgiy Sudakov, Sidny Cabral, and Dodi Lukebakio.

In the most anticipated reunion in European football, the first half was quite balanced, with both teams having some chances to create danger. At a certain point, Benfica managed to have more possession, but couldn’t turn it into dangerous opportunities. At halftime, the scoreboard at Estádio da Luz showed a goalless draw.

In the second half, Real Madrid came out more effective and, five minutes after the restart, Vinícius Jr opened the scoring, putting the Merengues ahead. Benfica didn’t give up and kept searching for the much-desired equalizer. However, as the minutes went by, the score remained unchanged. In stoppage time, José Mourinho was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

With this result, the Eagles start the Champions League playoff on the wrong foot, trailing the Merengues. However, since the deficit is only by the narrowest of margins, nothing is decided yet and everything will be settled in the second leg, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, on February 25.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.