Vini The Avenger kills Benfica to send Real Madrid to last 16

The way it should be.

That is the common feeling after Real Madrid eliminated Benfica on Wednesday night, as their star Vinicius Junior, of all people, scored the winner for a 2-1 home win (3-1 on aggregate). Eight days after the controversial Champions League playoffs' first leg in Lisbon, which ended in chaos and alleged racist slurs towards the Real Madrid forward, the Brazilian headed it home for a triumph that goes beyond a genuine football game.

Without their boss, Jose Mourinho, who was sent off in Lisbon, and suspended Gianluca Prestianni, the visitors did show determination and resilience, but it was just not enough. The most decorated club in the world managed to bounce back after conceding an early goal and take the game into a rather dull harbour in the end.

Despite the absense of their two most important players, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, the Spaniards proved their quality and will deservedly play in the last 16.

We saw a very intense first half, as the visitors were eager to get back into the tie as swiftly as possible. They made it after just 14 minutes, as Pavlidis crossed it from the right.

Raul Asencio would have scored a terrible own goal if it wasn't for Thibaut Courtois, who made a remarkable save, but couldn't stop Rafa Silva on the rebound, who reacted clumsily but still managed to find the back of the net.

Alas, the thrill didn't last long, or at all. Just a minute or two later, the hosts retook the overall lead. Fede Valverde found an unmarked Aurelien Tchouameni near the edge of the box for a routine finish, 1-1.

Los Blancos made a complete comeback almost instantly, but Arda Guler's goal was voided due to a narrow offside in the build-up.

The visitors responded with another excellent effort, and it would have been quite a shock if they had restored the lead at that point. However, Courtois once again proved his outstanding skills, flinging out an arm to keep out a goal-bound effort from Richard Rios.

The second half didn’t provide as much excitement as the opening half. Led by their smooth operator Fede Valverde, Madrid were pushing for another goal to put the tie to bed. Although Benfica did their best to fight back and pull off a miracle in the hostile atmosphere, this awkward two-legged tie came to a rather deserved climax.

Vinicius Junior was out of Otamendi’s reach and fired it past Trubin for 2-1, and 3-1 on aggregate, dancing his way to the last-16 with another samba around the corner flag.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - PLAYOFFS

Return leg

Tuesday

Atletico Madrid - Club Brugge 4-1 (1-1)

/Sorloth 23, 76, 87, Cardoso 48 - Ordonez 36/

Inter - Bodo 1-2 (0-0)

/Hauge 58, Evjen 72 - Bastoni 76/

Leverkusen - Olympiakos 0-0

Newcastle - Qarabag 3-2 (2-0)

/Tonali 4, Joelington 6, Botman 52 - Duran 50, Jafarguliyev 57/

Wednesday

Atalanta - Dortmund 4-1 (2-0)

/Scamacca 5, Zappacosta 45, Pasalic 57, Samardzic 90+8 pen - Adeyemi 75/

Atalanta win 5-4 on agg

Juventus - Galatasaray 3-2 a.e.t (1-0)

/Locatelli 37 pen, Gatti 70, McKennie 82 - Osimhen 105+1, Yilmaz 119/

Galatasaray win 7-5 on aggregate

PSG - Monaco 2-2 (0-1)

/Marquinhos 60, Khvicha 66 - Akliouche 45, Teze 90+1/

PSG win 5-4 on agg

Real Madrid - Benfica 2-1 (1-1)

/Tchouameni 16. Vinicius Jr 80 - Silva 14/

Real Madrid win 3-1 on agg