Key events
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. … but then things take a turn again as Vinícius Júnior prepares to take a corner. With abuse from the fans ringing in his ears, more missiles pour down from the stand. Then a bottle of water hits Vinícius Júnior. This is dismal stuff. Some people purporting to love Benfica have disgraced themselves tonight.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. An exchange of words between Vinícius Júnior and Nicolás Otamendi. Thankfully this one appears to be friendly, the pair smiling and laughing. Lovely to see after what’s gone before. A shaft of light in the murk.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Real play some keep-ball, which irritates the home crowd no end. Strip away the unpleasantness surrounding this second half, and it’s been a fine away performance by Real Madrid, who have struggled on the road in Europe once or twice this season.
FULL TIME: Monaco 2-3 PSG
The defending champions were a rabble for the first 18 minutes of this match. Then Désiré Doué happened.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. As Trent Alexander-Arnold prepares to send in a corner, a missile is thrown onto the pitch. Aurélien Tchouaméni hands it to the referee. It’s been a grim second half.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Georgiy Sudakov is booked for … there’s not really another way to describe this … toe-punting Vinícius Júnior up the arse in the comic-book style. Not a great deal of subtlety in that.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Unsurprisingly, given the long break for the abuse directed at Vinícius Júnior, there will be 12 additional minutes in Lisbon.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Sidny Lopes Cabral aims the free kick towards the top right. The ball deflects off Álvaro Carreras and nearly loops into the top-left corner, Thibaut Courtois wrong-footed and helpless. But the ball nestles on the top of the net. Nothing comes from the resulting corner. “Like most neutrals, rooting for the underdog comes naturally to me, especially when the overdog is a superclub,” writes Kári Tulinius. “But it’s hard not to want Real Madrid to smash Benfica now.”
RED CARD: Mourinho (Benfica)
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Richard Ríos, just to the right of the Real D, lines up a shot. As he cocks his leg back, it’s clipped by Vinícius Júnior. A free kick. José Mourinho isn’t happy, and rails at the assistant referee. The actual referee comes across to book the Benfica manager. José continues to tell it as he sees it, and receives a second yellow. He storms off into the stand, from where he’ll watch the rest of this tie.
Monaco 2-3 PSG. Bradley Barcola nearly puts the result beyond doubt by breaking clear down the inside-left channel. He takes aim for the bottom left. The ball squirts through Philipp Köhn’s legs, but the keeper does enough to deflect the ball wide of the post. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Sidny Lopes Cabral launches a rare counter, steaming down the middle before blazing wildly over.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior remains a constant threat. He races in again from his beat on the left and powers a shot towards the bottom right. Anatoliy Trubin batters the ball away with a strong arm.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Gianluca Prestianni races into the Madrid box from the right. Eduardo Camavinga in hot pursuit. Prestianni feels a light hand on his back, and goes over in the penalty-seeking style. All he finds is a yellow card for simulation.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta. It’s the same old story for Atalanta in the second half. They’re not troubling their hosts at all.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Other than one mazy run down the left from Andreas Schjelderup that forced Thibaut Courtois into flapping away a cross, Benfica haven’t responded to falling behind. That unpleasant brouhaha won’t have helped them. They’ve been thoroughly second best tonight, pretty much since the get-go.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior again, another ball-glued-to-foot dribble down the left. He tries to surprise Anatoliy Trubin with a poke towards the near corner. The keeper blocks. Nothing comes of the resulting corner. “And just like that, a darkness has fallen over the Estádio da Luz,” observes Peter Oh. “Such a bloody shame. So unnecessary.”
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior, fuelled by righteous fury, sashays elegantly in from the left. First he tries to find Kylian Mbappé on the penalty spot with a caressed wedge of a pass. When that doesn’t come off, he recovers possession and whacks a first-time shot towards the bottom left. Anatoliy Trubin saves well.
GOAL! Monaco 2-3 PSG (Doué 67)
The Désiré Doué supersub story continues apace. He nudges himself into a little space, just left of centre in the Monaco box, before pinging an unstoppable low drive into the bottom right. PSG complete the turnabout!
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. A slightly surreal atmosphere settles over the Estádio da Luz. A sense that something has gone badly wrong. Fans whistling Vinícius Júnior whenever he takes up possession.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior considered walking off. Indeed he sat in the dugout for a while, in an attempt to gather his thoughts. Hats off to him for coming back on, but you couldn’t blame him if he didn’t bother.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. The game restarts after a ten-minute hiatus. There will be repercussions. An inquiry. So sad that Vinícius Júnior’s world-class goal has been overshadowed by some possibly dreadful abuse. José Mourinho looks genuinely dejected over whatever has happened here.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. One of the Benfica staff is shown a red card. José Mourinho comes onto the field to throw an arm around Vinícius Júnior, who is extremely animated and unhappy. Words have definitely been exchanged between the striker and Gianluca Prestianni, who was muttering with his mouth covered. Vinícius Júnior “desperately upset” according to Gabriel Clarke on Amazon Prime. This is awfully sad. The referee trying his best to restore order – the game has been stopped for nine minutes now – but Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé are raging.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. It all kicks off in a rather undignified style. It’s not clear what has happened here. Vinícius Júnior is railing at Gianluca Prestianni, who returns a verbal volley with his shirt pulled up over his mouth. Pointing and accusations. A lot of players getting involved. The referee, following protocols to deal with abuse, stops the game. Both benches empty.
Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid. Vinícius Júnior then blots his copybook by dancing in front of the Benfica fans. He’s booked for unsportsmanlike behaviour. But then some missiles come down from the stands. Vinícius Júnior isn’t happy at all. There may have been some extremely unpleasant abuse directed at the Real striker.
GOAL! Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid (Vinícius Júnior 50)
A peach of a goal from Vinícius Júnior, who cuts in from the left and power-curls a beauty into the top right!
RED CARD: Aleksandr Golovin (Monaco)
Monaco 2-2 PSG. Aleksandr Golovin competes for a loose ball with Vitinha. He sticks out a leg and rakes his studs down Vitinha’s shin. So much so that his studs snag plenty of loose sock. Just an on-field yellow, but VAR gets involved and the decision is correctly upgraded. A terrible challenge.
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. We’re off again in Lisbon. And it’s not long before Vangelis Pavlidis is going over Antonio Rüdiger’s leg on the edge of the box. He wants a penalty but he’s not getting one. All very threatrical. Meanwhile here’s Simon McMahon: “This Champions League malarkey is all well and good, Scott, but let’s not forget the real football, and in particular the romance of the Scottish Cup round of 16, where Dundee United, despite being reduced to ten men early on after a straight red card for Iorie Iovu, have taken a shock lead against Spartans of Scottish League Two at Tannadice, captain Ross Graham, aka the Blairgowrie Maldini, getting the goal. The winners are away to Falkirk in the quarter finals, and if that doesn’t get your heart racing, then I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
HALF TIME: Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta
Dortmund bookended the half with goals. In between, Atalanta didn’t carry any threat at all.
Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta. Incidentally, when Serhou Guirassy scored earlier, he revealed a t-shirt that paid tribute to his late granny. “Qu’il t’accueil dans son vaste paradis.” (“May He welcome you into His vast paradise.”) A touching moment of pure love.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Atalanta (Beier 42)
Borussia Dortmund double their lead! Serhou Guirassy, scorer of the opener, turns provider, tearing off down the left and curling in a low cross for Max Beier, who can’t miss from a couple of yards. He nearly did, mind, but adjusted his feet just in time to clank home.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Atalanta. We’re still going in Germany, the kick-off having been delayed by a quarter of an hour. Still going, but there’s nothing much going on.
HALF TIME: Monaco 2-2 PSG
The holders were two down after 18 minutes. Then Luis Enrique had a brainwave, on came Désiré Doué, and here we all are.
HALF TIME: Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid
Real Madrid, and Kylian Mbappé, have done everything but score.
Monaco 2-2 PSG. Monaco also need to hear the whistle for the break. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ripples the side netting from a tight position on the right.
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. Real are well on top. Kylian Mbappé cuts in from the right but scuffs his shot a little, allowing Anatoliy Trubin to parry. Then Mbappé dinks a pass down the inside-right for Vinícius Júnior, whose snapshot is deflected wide right. And finally Arda Güler aims a power-curler towards the bottom left, but Trubin is equal to that as well! Benfica desperately need to hear the half-time whistle. José better have a stirring half-time soliloquy ready to go.
Monaco 2-2 PSG. A chance for Monaco to retake the lead in short order, but upon entering the box from the left, Simon Adingra slices a wild effort wide of the post.
GOAL! Monaco 2-2 PSG (Hakimi 41)
Désiré Doué cuts in from the left and pearls a shot towards the bottom right. Philipp Köhn parries well, but the rebound falls to Achraf Hakimi, who takes a touch and fires a low diagonal shot through the legs of Denis Zakaria and into the bottom left. The holders level after a torrid start. Désiré Doué: supersub. Luis Enrique: supermanager!
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. Federico Valverde threads a clever pass down the right flank for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who whips a cross low into the mixer. Kylian Mbappé, sliding in, should connect from six yards, but gets in a muddle while adjusting his feet, and misses the ball altogether. Trent put that on a plate. After a slow start to his career in Spain, it’s beginning to happen.
Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Atalanta. … and it’s a similar story in Dortmund, where the visitors are enjoying a good spell. Nicola Zalewski makes good down the left and whistles a low cross through the BVB six-yard box. But there’s nobody in Atalanta’s second-choice white to tap home.
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. The 15-time champions are pinning the two-time winners back. No way out for the hosts. No way through for the visitors, mind.
Monaco 2-1 PSG. There’s a VAR check for a possible foul earlier in the move. Doué himself with an arm across Vanderson on the halfway line. But there wasn’t much in it, and the referee isn’t having any of it. He points to the centre spot. The goal stands. The champs back in it!
GOAL! Monaco 2-1 PSG (Doué 29)
That Luis Enrique just may have a future as a manager, you know. He just might know what he’s doing. Less than couple of minutes after sending on Doué, he watches in delight as the winger enters the box down the left, chasing Bradley Barcola’s pass. Doué takes a touch before whipping a low shot across Philipp Köhn, off the base of the right-hand post, and in! What a switch! What a super-sub!
Monaco 2-0 PSG. Luis Enrique’s response to his team’s horror start is to hook Ousmane Dembélé after 26 minutes. Dembélé doesn’t look injured. Désiré Doué comes on in his place.
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. While all that was going on, Real Madrid really should have taken the lead in Lisbon. Some good work down the right by Trent Alexander-Arnold found Vinícius Júnior on the penalty spot. Vinícius Júnior swivelled and pulled a low shot inches wide of the left-hand post. You’d have expected him to score.
Monaco 2-0 PSG. Incidentally, Faes was booked for his preposterous balls-up against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, so it’s only going to take one more rush of blood to that well-upholstered noggin for the oft-slapstick defender to land his team into bother yet again. Odds on?
Monaco 2-0 PSG. Oh Wout. Oh Vitinha! The PSG midfielder aims the penalty towards the bottom left. Philipp Köhn reads the intent, getting down and parrying. Saved! Vitinha missing yet another penalty. He’s developed a poor habit here.
Monaco 2-0 PSG. … but almost immediately from the restart, a lifeline for the champions! Wout Faes lets the ball roll under his foot. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia makes off with it down the right. He enters the box. Faes, trying to make up for his egregious error, extends a leg across Kvaratskhelia and brings him down. A no-brainer of a penalty in more ways than one. Oh Wout.
GOAL! Monaco 2-0 PSG (Balogun 18)
A second for Folarin Balogun, who is sent scampering free down the inside-left channel, and whistles a low drive into the bottom left. Matvei Safonov in the PSG goal had no chance! What a start for the hosts in the Principality! The holders in all sorts of bother already.
GOAL! Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Atalanta (Guirassy 20)
Julian Ryerson twists and turns down the right and dinks a cross into the centre. It’s a doozy from Ryerson. Serhou Guirassy rises high at the far stick and plants a downward header across Marco Carnesecchi and in!
Monaco 1-0 PSG. João Neves challenges for the ball and sends it goalwards in the same motion. It only just squeaks over the bar. A few inches lower and that was in the top-left corner.
Borussia Dortmund 0-0 Atalanta. We are go! Better late than never in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Benfica 0-0 Real Madrid. The first corner of the evening is sent in from the right by Benfica. Tomás Araújo wins a header at the far post, and powers it goalwards, albeit straight at Thibaut Courtois.
