Real beat Benfica with Vini goal, reach Champions League last 16

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Gazeta Esportiva.com

·25 February 2026

Real beat Benfica with Vini goal, reach Champions League last 16

On Wednesday, with a goal from Vinícius Júnior, Real Madrid came from behind to defeat Benfica 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu and advanced to the Champions League round of 16. The first match ended with a 1-0 victory for the Spaniards, also with a goal from the Brazilian.

Match Situation

With this result, Real Madrid moves on to the round of 16 and awaits the draw to find out their opponent in the battle for a spot in the quarterfinals. Possible opponents are Manchester City or Sporting.

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📋 Match Summary

⚪REAL MADRID 2 X 1 BENFICA🔴

🏆 Competition: Champions League Playoff (second leg) 🏟️ Venue: Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid 📅 Date: February 25, 2026 (Wednesday) ⏰ Time: 5:00 PM (Brasília time)

Goals

⚽Rafa Silva, 13′ 1st half (Benfica) ⚽Tchouaméni, 15′ 1st half (Real Madrid) ⚽Vinícius Jr., 34′ 2nd half (Real Madrid)

How the Match Went

Benfica started the match better and opened the scoring at 15 minutes. After a well-worked play down the right, Pavlidis crossed into the box and Asencio almost scored an own goal, but after Courtois' save, Rafa Silva found the net.

Real Madrid, however, didn’t give the Portuguese side time to celebrate. Two minutes later, Tchouaméni received the ball from Valverde at the edge of the box and finished first-time to level the score. At the 30-minute mark, Arda Guler even scored Real’s second, but the goal was disallowed for offside in the play.

In the final stretch of the second half, at 34 minutes, Vini Jr. turned the game around for Real Madrid. The Brazilian broke quickly on the counterattack down the left, carried the ball into the box unmarked, and finished low to score.