On a feverish Champions League night at the Santiago Bernabéu, Real Madrid hosted Benfica in an atmosphere rarely witnessed before. The crowd was animated and deafening from the very first whistle, setting the tone for a contest that was heated from kick-off, with last week’s incident in Lisbon still on everyone’s mind.
The first chance of the evening fell to Benfica after a deflection led to a corner. The delivery was safely caught by Courtois, but it served as an early warning. Moments later, Vini burst forward on a breakaway into the box, was stopped in his tracks, and immediately appealed for a penalty. The referee waved play on.
In the 14th minute, Benfica struck. A horrendous mistake by Asencio almost resulted in an own goal. In the chaos, Courtois was distracted and unable to focus on Silva, who calmly looped the ball over the keeper to open the scoring. All was open again with the aggergate score being 1:1.
Real Madrid responded instantly. Just two minutes after Benfica had taken the lead, Tchoumeni brought Los Blancos back into it with his first Champions League goal. The Bernabéu erupted, chants for the home side clashing with whistles directed at the visitors. Neither team was willing to give an inch. Every shot, every pass, every opportunity was calculated and executed with intensity.
Camavinga tested Trubin with a shot on goal, but the Benfica keeper stood firm. Soon after, Güler thought he had scored a birthday gift for himself, only for the goal to be disallowed due to Gonzalo being offside. Courtois then kept Madrid in the overall tie with a crucial save from Rios. Madrid kept pushing forward. A corner taken by Trent found Güler in the box. Valverde’s effort was deflected for another corner, and Asencio rose but fell just short of connecting properly. A free kick followed after a foul on Vini Jr., yet despite one minute of added time, Madrid could not find another breakthrough before the interval.
The second half began with Otamendi fouling Tchoumeni and receiving a yellow card. Madrid earned a corner from the ensuing free kick, and this time Asencio connected with his header, but it sailed over the goal in overcompensation. Trent dazzled with a beautiful dribble in the box, keeping the ball glued to his foot before firing narrowly wide. It was a huge chance for the Brit.
Asencio’s night grew more complicated when he received a yellow card after another rash challenge. Madrid, however, continued to move the ball well. They were fortunate when a Benfica effort lobbed the crossbar by mere centimetres. Another foul on Tchoumeni disrupted play, while the visiting supporters tirelessly sang and chanted for their team.
Concern followed as Rüdiger went down injured and required medical attention. Valverde then had a chance that drifted wide to the left. A worrying collision between Asencio and Camavinga left both players on the ground. Camavinga eventually rose, but Asencio remained down, prompting medics to arrive with a carrier. Mastantuono and Alaba were introduced for Camavinga and Asencio. Post match medical information has been released by the Real madrid staff, stating that Asencio’s condition is not threatiningly serious but he has been taken to the hospital to have his neck examined.
Madrid kept pressing to advance into the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League. After a foul on Güler, the breakthrough finally came. Valverde delivered a precise pass to Vini, who was completely free and finished beautifully into the bottom right corner. After all the controversy in the first game, it felt like the perfect response.
Benfica won a late corner as the tension rose again but utlimately could not make the chance stick. Gonzalo and Güler were replaced by Palacios and Thiago, Alvaro Arbeloa once again giving the young Castillla players apmle opportunity to experience high pressure matches. Nine minutes of added time were signaled, and Fran Garcia came on for Carreras as Madrid sought to see out the match in front of their roaring home crowd. The match trundled to a finish, Real madrid once again being victorious at home and completing their goal of getting one step closer to European glory.
Vinicius has now scored in five consecutive games, further underlining his importance and truly showing any of his haters how little he thinks of them and their racist comments from this past week. This was explicitly expressed by him doing the same goal celebration that got him in trouble with Benfica’s Prestianni in the previous meeting last week.
